Disclosed is a process for producing sphingomyelin and plasmalogen-form glycerophospholipid, which comprises the step (A) of extracting a total lipids from a chicken skin powder and drying the extract, the step (B) of subjecting the dried total lipids obtained in said step (A), to extraction treatment with a solvent mixture of an aliphatic hydrocarbon solvent and a water-soluble ketone solvent to separate an insoluble portion composed mainly of sphingomyelin and a soluble portion, the step (C) subjecting the insoluble portion composed mainly of sphingomyelin, obtained in said step (B), to extraction treatment with a solvent mixture of water and a water-soluble ketone solvent to remove a non-lipid component contained in the soluble portion, and the step (D) of drying the soluble portion obtained in said step (B), and subjecting the thus-obtained dried product to extraction treatment with a water-soluble ketone solvent to separate and recover an insoluble portion composed mainly of plasmalogen-form giycerophospholiuld.
According to the above production process, high-purity sphingomyelin, in particular, human-form sphingomyelin and plasmalogen-form sphingomyelin can be produced from chicken skin at high yields with simple procedures.