pThe outstanding and versatile properties of lecithin have been investigated and described by many scientists over the last decades. Lecithins are mixtures of polar lipids phospholipids and are natural components of all animal and plant cell membranes, where they have essential functions. The amphiphilic structure of phospholipids gives them their special emulsifying and dispersing properties. Besides the widely used vegetable lecithins from soybeans, sunflower and rapeseed, also lecithins from animal sources, like eggs, milk or marine life, are now gaining ground. The diversity of their applications in food, animal feed, dietary supplements, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and in the technical industry is unique. The increasing importance of this outstanding natural substance has made it necessary to update the knowledge base. ppThe book editors have succeeded in gaining 24 renowned scientists and technologists from eight countries to make their knowledge available to a broad public in the