Abstract

Cholesterol is a molecule with an unsaturated bond; therefore, like polyunsaturated fatty acids, it is prone to oxidation. Cholesterol oxidation products (COPs) are found in many common foods and have been shown to be atherogenic, cytotoxic, mutagenic and possibly carcinogenic. Therefore, efforts to prevent or to avoid COPs formation during manufacture and/or processing of foods are of high priority. The effect of natural antioxidants on COPs formation has not been extensively studied. We assayed the effect of some widely applied natural antioxidants, such as tocopherol homologs (?-T, ?-T, and ?-T) and rosemary extract, and of some natural products of newly developed as antioxidants, such as the flavonoids quercetin, catechin, morin, and rutin, and also of an alkaloid-derived product, boldine, to inhibit cholesterol oxidation of soybean oil, added of cholesterol, induced in the Rancimat test conditions (150°C and air bubbling). Formation of six different COPs at the induction period and at the 100 ?S conductivity value was monitored by gas chromatography. Under the experimental conditions ?-T, quercetin, and rosemary extract prove effective to inhibit both soybean oil oxidation and COP formation. ?-T, catechin, and morin are less efficient to prevent COP formation. ?-T, rutin and boldine are devoid of protective action against COP formation. ?-T, quercetin and rosemary extract may inhibit COP formation from the nucleus and from the lateral chain of the cholesterol molecule. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd.