Cholesterol oxidation in meat-based baby foods

Cholesterol oxidation in commercial meat-based homogenized and freeze-dried baby foods was examined. The seven major products of this reaction were determined by Gas-Cromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). As far as single cholesterol oxidation products (COP) are concerned, 7-ketocholesterol was the major product of direct cholesterol oxidation in the two groups of analyzed samples, and this study confirmed that it is a useful marker of the whole cholesterol oxidation process. Nevertheless, the amounts of cholesterol-5,6-epoxide were often similar to and sometimes higher than the amounts of 7-ketocholesterol, thus showing a strong development of both direct and indirect cholesterol oxidation pathways. Total COP content was significantly higher in freeze-dried than in homogenized products. Moreover, in freeze-dried samples the COP content per serving was quite variable and in two samples it was close to or even higher than 500 g. The greater development of cholesterol oxidation in the freeze-dried samples was confirmed by their highest total COP/cholesterol percent ratios. A constant correlation between the fatty acid composition and the development of cholesterol oxidation was not found, although a positive correlation between unsaturated fatty acid content and total COP content occasionally exists in samples of the same brand.