Cholesterol content in European bovine milk fats

Data about the cholesterol content in edible fats like bovine milk fat are important for balancing the cholesterol intake with food. A comparison of 3 different cholesterol determination methods showed that with the direct analysis by a 25 m long TAP steel capillary column the same results could be obtained as with a time-consuming saponification standard method including thin-layer chromatographic cleaning and subsequent silylation. On the other hand with a rapid direct method using a short packed column 21% unsaponifiables as e.g. minor sterols or hydrocarbons could be found in the "cholesterol peak". The analysis of 1142 German milk fats led to a mean cholesterol content of 265.6 +/- 20.0 mg/100 g fat (range: 204.4 to 382.5). For 165 milk fats from other 12 EU-countries, a similar mean cholesterol content of 258.5 +/- 19.9 mg/100 g fat (range: 215.0 to 331.6) was detected. Compared with sufficiently fed cows, underfed cows demonstrated an approx. 10.1% lower mean cholesterol content (238.7 +/- 9.7 mg/100 g fat). On the other hand, during the first 7 days post partum, the colostrum showed a significantly higher mean cholesterol content of 327.2 +/- 99.0 mg/100 g fat (n = 15; range: 213.1 to 583.9). Further, with special conditions as feeding of rape-seed the cholesterol content can be significantly lowered by 8-13%. An extraordinary lowering up to 50% can be reached by dry fractionation of milk fat (stearin "hard" fraction).