OBJECTIVE To quantify five specific dietary phytosterols and phytostanols in vegetables and fruits commonly consumed in China. METHODS A total of 34 different kinds of vegetables and 33 kinds of fruits were chosen according to the consuming habit of Chinese people. All the samples were purchased from two shops in Beijing. The contents of phytosterols (beta-sitosterol, campesterol, stigmastero...

Phytosterols are structurally related to cholesterol and are mainly C28 and C29 carbon steroid alcohols. Plant sterols, also named phytosterols, are integral components of the membrane lipid bilayer of plant cells. Unlike animal systems in which cholesterol is most often the single final product of sterol synthesis, each plant species has its own characteristic distribution of phytosterols, wit...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Elevated levels of plasma total cholesterol (TC), and particularly plasma low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDLC), are primary contributing factors to CHD. Dietary plant sterols (phytosterols) have been shown to significantly reduce plasma TC and LDLC in humans, primarily through inhibition of intestinal cholest...

Phytosterols (plant sterols and stanols) are known LDL-cholesterol lowering agents. Consequently, food products containing these plant compounds are widely used as a therapeutic dietary option to reduce plasma cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. The cholesterol-lowering action of dietary phytosterols is thought to occur, at least in part, through competition with dietary and biliary cholestero...

Saw palmetto supplements (SPS) are commonly consumed by men with prostate cancer. We investigated whether SPS fatty acids and phytosterols concentrations determine their growth-inhibitory action in androgen-sensitive LNCaP cells and hamster flank organs. High long-chain fatty acids-low phytosterols (HLLP) SPS ≥ 750 nM with testosterone significantly increased and ≥500 nM with dihydrotestosteron...

Parenteral nutrition lipid emulsions made from various plant oils contain steroidal compounds, called phytosterols. During parenteral administration of lipid emulsions, phytosterols can reach levels in the blood that are many fold higher than during enteral administration. The elevated phytosterol levels have been associated with the development of liver dysfunction and the rare development of ...

An important safety aspect to be considered when foods are enriched with phytosterols and phytostanols is the oxidative stability of these lipid compounds, i.e. their resistance to oxidation and thus to the formation of oxidation products. This study concentrated on producing scientific data to support this safety evaluation process. In the absence of an official method for analyzing of phytost...