Rapid method for cholesterol analysis in bovine milk and options for applications.

The adaptation of a colorimetric technique for the analysis of cholesterol in raw milk is presented. Performance quality was satisfying (mean intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) 4.8, inter-assay CV 9.1%, linearity between 0 and 7 mm, recovery of spiked cholesterol into raw milk 98.1 and 106.3%). However, the milk fat extraction must be carried out within the 48 hours following milk sampling. When performing sampling, the significant variation of milk cholesterol composition during the milking process has to be taken into account.