Rapid determination of cholesterol in milk and milk products by direct saponification and capillary gas chromatography

A simple method is described for the determination of cholesterol in milk and milk products. Samples (0.2 g) are saponified in capped tubes with 0.5 M methanolic KOH solution by heating for 15 min at 80 degrees C. Water is added to the mixtures, and the unsaponifiable fractions are extracted with hexane to be further analyzed by capillary gas chromatography. Because of the rapid sample preparation and gas chromatographic procedures, a single sample can be analyzed in 30 min. Overall recovery was 98.6%, and the linearity was excellent for the fortification range examined. Precision data that were based on the variation within and between days suggested an overall relative standard deviation value of 1.4%. The method has been successfully applied to quantitate cholesterol in a variety of milk products.