Abstract
The plasma cholesterol lowering effect of the unsaponifiable fraction of corn oil and soybean oil was studied.
By molecular distillation of vegetable oils, volatile fractions containing the unsaponifiable of corn oil (100-160°C, 20-10μHg) and those of soybean oil (130-170°C, 20-12μHg) and linoleic acid glycerides fraction of safflower oil (175-180°C, 12-5μHg) were prepared (Table 1).
Young adult male rats of Wistar strain (approximate body weight 105g) were fed hypercholesterolemic diet containing 1% of cholesterol, 0.3% of sodium cholate and 10% of lard with 7.5% of linoleic acid glycerides, with or without the addition of the unsaponifiable fraction of corn oil or soybean oil (Table 2). The experimental periods were 6 weeks.
As shown in the Table 3, rats fed the diet containing only linoleic acid glycerides (I) maintained the highest level of plasma cholesterol and those fed the diet with the unsaponifiable of corn oil (II) and those fed the diet with the unsaponifiable of soybean oil (III) were found to have lower levels of plasma cholesterol.
The total liver lipids and the liver cholesterol were also lower for the rats receiving the unsaponifiable of corn oil and soybean oil than for those fed linoleic acid glycerides without the unsaponifiables.
