Rapid determination of total cholesterol in homogenized milk

A rapid method that is amenable to automation has been developed for the determination of total cholesterol in homogenized milk. The milk sample is saponified in ethanolic KOH in the presence of an internal standard, cholestane. Cholesterol and the internal standard are then isolated by solid-phase extraction on a nonpolar adsorbent and eluted with organic solvent. The evaporated extract is derivatized and analyzed by capillary gas chromatography. Average recovery of cholesterol acetate added to milk prior to saponification was 95%. The average relative standard deviation for repeated analyses was 2%. The limit of detection for this method is 2 mg/100 g. Twenty samples can be analyzed by one analyst in a normal work day if the gas chromatograph is equipped with an autosampler. This method has been compared with a modified AOAC method for the determination of total cholesterol. At a confidence level of 95%, no difference was observed between the 2 methods.