GC–MS determination of 7-dehydrocholesterol and cholesterol in milk to verify eco-friendly conditions in cow housing

Abstract

Dairy products are consumed worldwide in large quantities and play an important role in a diet. Labelling of these products as “eco”, “bio” or “organic” has become a trend in recent years, and verification of such advertised properties directly from the dairy products themselves, without the possibility of examining the environment where they were produced, is often next to impossible. However, it is crucial for combating potential false advertising. Herein, a simple approach to distinguish between indoor and outdoor rearing based on quantitation of cholesterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol in milk samples by GC–MS was evaluated. Repeated liquid–liquid extraction into n-heptane resulted in 99% extraction yield. Quantitation by internal standard calibration method with epicoprostanol provided limits of quantitation of 0.814 µg/100 g and 5.60 µg/100 g in milk for cholesterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol, respectively. Values of parameter defined as thousandfold 7-dehydrocholesterol to cholesterol ratio ranged from 0.35 to 1.34 for outdoor reared cows in comparison with indoor category (2.14 to 2.85). A statistically significant difference (at 99% confidence level) between indoor and outdoor rearing was observed. The developed method is an efficient tool for verification of livestock living conditions and, hence, for verification of eco-friendly labelling by dairy producers.