Oxidative decomposition of cholesterol in fish products

Abstract

Cholesterol oxides in fish products popular in Japan, including salted and dried, boiled and dried and smoked products, were qualitatively and quantitatively determined as trimethylsilyl ether derivatives by gas‐liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The level of total cholesterol oxides ranged widely between 8.3 ppm in boiled and dried shrimp and 188.0 ppm in boiled and dried anchovy. 7β‐Hydroxycholesterol and 7‐ketocholesterol were the most prominent oxidative decomposition products of cholesterol. The levels of epimeric epoxides, cholestane triol and 25‐hydroxycholesterol were relatively low. To elucidate a mechanism of cholesterol oxidation proceeding during fish processing and subsequent preservation, four model systems, consisting of a mixture of purified cod liver triglycerides plus cholesterol, of a mixture of authentic triolein plus cholesterol, of triolein alone and of cholesterol alone, were stored separately at 25°C in dry air for up to 104 d. The residual fatty acids of the triglycerides, and the cholesterol oxides produced, were recovered and determined. Oxygen uptake remained almost unchanged for the mixture of triolein plus cholesterol. No detectable amount of cholesterol oxides was produced, and the fatty acid content of the residual oleic acid, measured by an internal standard, remained almost unchanged. For the mixture of cod liver triglycerides plus cholesterol, a remarkable increase in oxygen uptake was observed. A continuous increase in the amount of cholesterol oxides was observed, accompanied by a remarkable concurrent decrease in polyunsaturated fatty acid residues, as well as of the oleic acid naturally present. These results strongly suggest that cholesterol oxidation in fish products proceeds in conjunction with oxidative decomposition of the coexisting polyunsaturated fatty acids of fish oils.