Plant Sterols in Cereals and Cereal Products

TLDR: The total plant sterol contents (free sterols and covalently bound structures) of the main cereals cultivated in Finland were determined in this article, and the results showed that the highest plant sterols content was observed in rye (mean content 95.5 mg/100 g, wb), whereas the total sterols contents of wheat, barley, and oats were 69.0, 76.1, and 44.7, respectively.

Abstract: The total plant sterol contents (free sterols and covalently bound structures) of the main cereals cultivated in Finland were determined. Furthermore, sterol contents were determined for different flour and bran fractions in the milling process of wheat and rye, as well as plant sterol contents in various milling and retail bakery products. The sample preparation procedure included acid and alkaline hydrolysis to liberate sterols from their glycosides and esters, respectively. Free sterols were extracted and, after recovery using solid-phase extraction, derivatized to trimethylsilyl ethers for gas chromatography (GC) analysis. We used GC with a mass spectrometer (MS) for identification. When two cultivars of rye, wheat, barley, and oats grown in the same year were compared, the highest plant sterol content was observed in rye (mean content 95.5 mg/100 g, wb), whereas the total sterol contents (mg/100 g, wb) of wheat, barley, and oats were 69.0, 76.1, and 44.7, respectively. In addition, the 10 ry...