[Cholesterol in beef, pork, chicken and their products commercialized in Maringá, Paraná, Brazil]

A rapid method developed by Al-Hasani et al. with modifications for cholesterol determination was applied in samples of beef, pork, chicken and meat products. Analyses of cholesterol were performed by capillary gas chromatography. The obtained results showed that chicken presented higher concentration (126.96 to 188.29 mg/100 g) of cholesterol in comparison to beef and pork and similar to meat products, except bovine liver that presented 265.03 mg/100 g. Cholesterol values of beef and pork samples were considered low due to the absence of superficial fat in meat samples.