Plant Sterols and Tocols Profile of Vegetable Oils Consumed in Egypt

Abstract

The aim of this study was to quantify specific phytosterols/-stanols (campesterol, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, β-sitostanol, and campestanol) and tocols (tocopherol and tocotrienol) in the vegetable oils (corn oil, sunflower oil, blended oil, and palm oil) available in the Egyptian market. Gas-liquid chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography procedures were applied to 12 vegetable oils. The best source of phytosterols was the corn oil (4814 μg/g oil) samples while palm oil samples had the lowest phytosterols level (660 μg/g). The mean value of total phytosterols was 2872 and 3443 μg/g for sunflower and blended oil samples, respectively. β-Sitosterol was the dominant phytosterol (ca. 70% of the total phytosterols), followed by campesterol (ca. 16%) and stigmasterol (ca. 9.4%), while β-sitostanol and campestanol were detected in some oils in small amounts or traces. The levels of mean total tocols in corn, sunflower, blended, and palm oil samples were 891.4, 716.1, 707.5, and 311.8 μg/g, respectively. In sunflower and blended oil samples, α-tocopherol was the main tocol, which accounted for more than 80% of total tocols, while α-tocopherol was found in lower levels in corn and palm oils accounting for ca. 40% of total tocols.