This study aimed at validating a method for the simultaneous determination of cholesterol and cholesterol oxides in processed meat products by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using a diode array and a refractive index detectors. Initially five methods and eight chromatographic conditions were tested. The selected method was that of SANDER et al. [25], which presents the following steps: lipid extraction, cold saponification and extraction of non-saponifyable material. The chromatographic conditions established were: Nova Pak CN HP column (300 x 3.9mm, 4µm); column temperature of 32ºC; mobile phase of hexane/isopropanol (96 + 4) with a flow rate of 1.0mL/min, diode array detector fixed at 210nm and a refractive index detector. The method was validated by way of the recuperation, repeatability, detection limits, quantification limits and comparison of the results obtained with the two detectors. The identification of the cholesterol and cholesterol oxides was by comparison of the retention times of the samples with those of the standards, absorbance spectra and co-chromatography, with confirmation by mass spectroscopy. Under the chromatographic conditions used, cholesterol and the following cholesterol oxides were separated: colesta-4,6-dien-3-one, 20alpha-hidroxycholesterol, 25-hydroxycholesterol, 5,6alpha-epoxicholesterol, 5,6beta-epoxycholesterol, 7alpha-hidroxycholesterol, 7beta-hidroxycholesterol and 7-cetocholesterol. Cholesterol, 7-cetocholesterol and 5,6beta-epoxycholesterol were confirmed in the samples analyzed. Cholesterol and 5,6beta-epoxycholesterol were quantified using the refractive index detector and 7-cetocholesterol using the diode array detector.
cholesterol; cholesterol oxides; HPLC; processed meat products
