Abstract
The level of blood cholesterol is considered to be influenced by the diet sterols, but the content and the composition of sterols in vegetable foodstuffs remains obscure as compared to those in animal ones.
The sterol content equivalent to that of β-sitosterol was determined in unsaponified matters obtained from edible vegetable oils. The content of free sterols and sterol esters was determined by fractionation with silica gel column. The content and the composition of sterols in hexane extracts of saponified lipids were determined by gas-liquid chromatography.
Sterol content in 1g of edible vegetable oils was found to be several mgs, while that of the oil sold as “sesame oil A” and rice oil was significantly higher (49-51mg). Nearly equal content of free sterols and sterol esters was found in most of the oils tested, while “sesame oil A” and rice oil contained sterol esters five times as much as free sterols. Gas-liquid chromatographic analysis revealed: 1. β-sitosterol and campestereol were contained in all of the samples, 2. stigmasterol was not found in salad oil B and C, and 3. the content of β-sitosterol was most abundant among those of three kinds of sterol.