Products Formed During Thermo-oxidative Degradation of Phytosterols.

Oxidative degradation of cholesterol has been extensively researched, however, not all products formed have been established. When a phytosterols standard was heated at 60, 120 and 180 °C for different period of time the following groups of components were detected: oxidized phytosterols, fragmented phytosterol molecules, volatile compounds and oligomers. Taking into account all the components formed, we were able to balance the amounts of disappearing sterols with components formed. We established that the amount and type of products formed during thermo-oxidative degradation is affected by temperature and time. The amount of intact phytosterols decreased when temperature and time increase. The amount of oxidized phytosterols was at the highest level when a temperature of 120 °C was applied, whereas the lowest amounts were observed when a temperature of 60 °C was used. At a temperature of 180 °C the amount of oxidized sterols was lower than at 120 °C and it decreased when the heating time was increased. This indicates that oxidized sterols were the main precursors involved in the formation of other components during thermo-oxidative degradation. The amount and type of volatile compounds formed increased when time and temperature increased. We observed diversified groups of volatile compounds formed and most of them are defined as off-flavor compounds for rancid oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]