An inexpensive video densitometer based on an Apple II microcomputer using commercially available components was developed. The device was used to quantitate charred lipid and colored spots on thin-layer chromatography plates. The method is useful for lipid samples weighing 0.1 to 4 [mu]g on high-performance plates and 1 to 20 [mu]g on ordinary plates. The software automatically corrects for baseline drift due to dirt or nonuniformity in the plate.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25173/1/0000611.pd
