A simple reflectance densitometric method for quantitation of polar and non-polar lipids was developed, by thin layer chromatography (TLC) or high performance TLC. The solvent systems used were a mixture of n-hexane:diethylether: glacial acetic acid (80: 20: 1, V/V) for non-polar lipids and chloroform: methanol:water (65:25:4, V/V) for polar lipids. After removal of solvents, lipid fractions were visualized by exposing the plate to iodine vapor. The plate was then covered with a glass plate and scanned at 365 nm. Different lipid fractions were quantitated by using appropriate reference standards. Iodine color is stable for at least three hours; the integrated area values of the lipid components are linear with their concentrations with a variation of 2 to 4 percent. The method of quantitation being nondestructive, the TLC plates may be used for further studies.