[Analysis of phytosterol contents in food plant materials and Chinese traditional medicines]

Wei Sheng Yan Jiu. 2009 Mar; 38(2): 188-91Han J, He M, Zhou S, Wang GOBJECTIVE: To analyze the phytosterol content in food plant materials and Chinese traditional herbal medicines commonly used in China. METHODS: 18 kinds of food plant materials and 32 kinds of Chinese traditional herbal medicines, which were commonly used in functional food, were chosen as samples. The contents of beta-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmasterol, beta-sitostanol were analyzed by GC methods and the percent of each ingredient were calculated. RESULTS: The contents of phytosterols in 18 kinds of food plant materials were from 14.8 mg/100 g to 208.3 mg/100 g, while the content of phytosterols in 32 Chinese traditional herbal medicines were from 9.4 mg/100 g to 280.3 mg/100 g. In most samples, beta-sitosterol is the largest part of total phytosterol. CONCLUSION: Phytosterols were existed in 50 kinds of food plant materials and Chinese traditional herbal medicines commonly used in functional food, maybe phytosterol is an important functional ingredient in some plant materials.