Abstract
It is a well-known fact that phytosterols can reduce plasma cholesterol levels in rats. The authors carried out the feeding experiments with low sterols containing unsaponifiable matter separated from soybean oil. The results indicated that the unsaponifiable matter itself did not show any reducing effects against plasma cholesterol. However, rats fed the same unsaponifiable matter with soy-sterols had the plasma cholesterol lower than that of rats fed soy-sterols alone (Table IV). From these results the unsaponifiable matter seems to promote an effect of phytosterols to lower the plasma cholesterol. The effective substance is presumably tocopherol in the unsaponifiable matter.
