Quantitative analysis of cholesterol in foods by gas-liquid chromatography

In order to develop a simple and exact analytical method for cholesterol determination in foods by gas-liquid chromatography, several experiments were carried out in collaboration with several universities and institutes. For the extraction of lipids from foods, it was decided that chloroform-methanol (2:1) extraction was the most suitable procedure. Since pretreatment procedures using methods such as thin-layer chromatography and florisil column chromatography to purify the unsaponifiable matters reduced the recovery of cholesterol, and good results were obtained without applying the pretreatment, these procedures were concluded to be unnecessary. Gas chromatograms obtained with free sterol showed results similar to those of the trimethylsilyl ether derivative and acetate. 5-alpha-Cholestane is used as a good internal standard.