Phytosterols in foods

Phytosterols are present in all plants and in foods containing plant-based raw materials. Phytosterols also known as plant sterols and stanols are in many everyday foods.

Chemically, phytosterols are triterpenes, composed of a steroid skeleton and alkyl side chain. They are closely related to cholesterol, but there also structurally distinct with the presence of a side chain substitution of methyl or an ethyl group carbon 24.

In normal diets vegetable oils and products based on them are generally acknowledged to be richest sources of phytosterols.

Beta- sitosterol

Vegetables oils such as corn, sunflower, soybean and rapeseed oils which containing between 0.1% and 0.5% are the main sources of plant sterols in typical Western diets.

Legumes (up to 0.2%) and some seeds (e.g. sunflower and sesame around 0.6%) are also good sources while other vegetables and fruits contain slightly lower amounts of plant sterols.

One of the biggest advantages of phytosterols is that they block LDL without disrupting HDL.

The three primary phytosterols are Beta-Sitosterol, Campesterol, and Stigmasterol. These three main phytosterols occur naturally in varying rations in foods that contain phytosterols.

Minor phytosterols are avenasterol, oryzanol, fucosterol and ergosterol. Sitosterol, Campesterol, and Stigmasterol are predominant in sterol fractions of the soy and corn oils.
Phytosterols in foods