Sterol Composition of Fruits, Fungi, Marine Algae and Tea, Coffee and Cocoa

The content of sterol in the unsaponifiable matter of lipids extracted from fruits (28 kinds), fungi (6 kinds), marine algae (10 kinds) and tea, coffee and cocoa (11 kinds) was determined. The sterol content of fruits, tea, coffee and cocoa as well as brown and green marine algae was presented as the quantity equivalent to that of β-sitosterol (β-S) as reported previously in Part 1¹⁾, 2²⁾ and 3³⁾, while that of fungi and of red marine algae was presented as the quantity equivalent to that of ergosterol (Er) and of cholesterol (Ch), respectively. The sterol portion separated from the unsaponifiable matter by thin layer chromatography was analyzed by gas-liquid (GL) chromatography as reported in Part 2²⁾ and 3.³⁾<BR>1) The sterol content of fruits was 0.6-59.9mg in 100g of edible part and 0.06-2.78mg in 1g of dried material. The content of β-S was the highest in all of the samples. In addition to β-S, both of campesterol (C) and stigmasterol (St) were found in some of the samples, while in other samples one or both of them were not detected. A GL chromatographic peak presumable to be of cholesterol (Ch) was noticed in grape-fruit, bitter orange juice and peelings, citrus hassaku, shaddock, lemon and its peelings, banana and coconut milk. A peak not yet identified appeared in musk-melon and princemelon, in common with melons as reported in Part 3³⁾. The content of sterol was much varied in some of the samples, while the composition of sterol was found to be peculiar to the kind of the samples.<BR>2) The sterol content of fungi was 14.7-46.6mg in 100g of edible part and 0.16-4.39mg in 1g of dried material. Ergosterol (Er) was contained most abundantly in all samples of fungi, except in Jew's ear. A peak not yet identified was noticed in fungi besides that of Er.<BR>3) The sterol content of marine algae was 1, 9-80.9mg in 100g of edible part and 0.02-1.38mg in 1g of dried material. The main sterol of 5 kinds of brown algae in the present report was fucosterol (F), and 24-methylene cholesterol (M) was also contained in all of the samples of brown algae. In 3 kinds of red algae in the present report the main sterol was cholesterol (Ch). A kind of green algae (Ulva pertusa) and 2 kinds of green laver contained 28-isofucosterol (If) as the major sterol, while in another sample of Ulva pertuso 28-isofucosterol was not detected and β-S, M and Ch was found to be contained at the ratio of 100: 81: 65.<BR>4) The sterol content in 100g of edible part of tea, coffee and cocoa was high in green tea, especially so in Bancha (1, 140mg), while in other samples of green tea it was 326-411mg. As for coffee it was 80-110mg except that it was 15mg in powdered, so-called “instant” coffee. The sterol content and composition of coffee beans was found to be unchanged by roasting. In coffee and cocoa the content of β-S was the highest, while C and St were also contained, β-S was the almost exclusive sterol in tea, in which neither C nor St was detected, though a peak not yet identified was found.