Enzymatic Determination of Cholesterol Oxides

Abstract

For measurement of the concentration of oxidised cholesterols in foodstuffs, a method was developed by adapting the well-known enzymatic determination of cholesterol. A linear correlation was found between the absorbance measured after enzymatic reaction and the concentrations of 7α-hydroxycholesterol, 7β-hydroxycholesterol, 7-ketocholesterol, cholesterol-5α, 6α-epoxide in the range 1-12 μg. The usefulness of this method was demonstrated by determination of the four cholesterol oxidation products separated by TLC from the non-saponifiable lipid fraction of 5-month-old whole-egg powder (stored under different conditions) and of biscuit enriched with egg powder. The main advantages of the combination of TLC and the enzymatic method, beyond its rapidity and sensitivity, are that the determination of cholesterol oxidation products can be carried out in parallel with many samples containing small amounts of oxidised cholesterols even in the presence of a large quantity of cholesterol.