Pressurized liquid extraction of lipids for the determination of oxysterols in egg-containing food

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE, ASE) was compared with the Folch procedure (a solid-liquid extraction with chloroform/methanol 2:1, v/v) for the lipid extraction of egg-containing food; the accuracy of PLE for the quantitative determination of oxysterols in whole egg powder was evaluated. Samples of spray-dried whole egg, an Italian vanilla cake (Pandoro) and egg noodles were used. Two different extraction solvents (chloroform/methanol 2:1, v/v, and hexane/isopropanol 3:2, v/v) were tested at different extraction temperatures and pressures (60 degrees C at 15 MPa, 100 degrees C at 15 MPa, 120 degrees C at 20 MPa). No significant differences in the lipid recovery of the egg powder sample using PLE were found. However, PLE of the vanilla cake and egg noodles with the chloroform/methanol mixture was not selective enough and led to the extraction of a non-lipid fraction, including nitrogen-containing compounds. In the same samples, the pressurized hexane/isopropanol mixture gave a better recovery result, comparable to that obtained using the Folch method. Cholesterol oxidation products of the Folch extract and the pressurized liquid extract of spray dried egg powder (obtained with hexane/isopropanol 3:2, v/v, at 60 degrees C and 15 MPa) were determined by gas chromatography. PLE performed under these conditions is suitable to replace the Folch extraction, because the differences between the two methods tested were not statistically significant. Moreover, PLE shows important advantages, since the analysis time was shortened by a factor of 10, the solvent costs were reduced by 80% and the use of chlorinated solvents was avoided.