Gas-liquid chromatographic determination of total cholesterol in multicomponent foods.

A method is described for the determination of total cholesterol in multicomponent foods and also other products such as nonfat dry milk, dried whole egg solids, and certain candy bars. The lipid is extracted from the sample by a mixed solvent and saponified. The unsaponifiable fraction which contains the cholesterol and other sterols is extracted with benzene. An aliquot is evaporated to dryness and the residue is dissolved in dimethylformamide. The sterols are derivatized to form trimethylsilyl (TMS) ethers. The TMS-cholesterol derivative is quantitatively determined by gas-liquid chromatography, using 5alpha-cholestane as an internal standard. Nine laboratories participated in a collaborative study of the determination of total cholesterol in deviled ham sandwich spread, vegetable beef stew, corned beef hash, frozen chicken pot pie, pizza pepperoni, fish sticks, breaded shrimp, chocolate-covered candy bars, dried whole egg solids, and nonfat dry milk and the results are reported here. The coefficient of variation ranged from 5.64 to 23.2%, with an average coefficient of variation of 14.8%.