Sterol margarine

WESTSTRATE J A, MEIJER G w (1998) Plant sterol emiched margarine and reduction of plasma and total LDL-cholesterol concentrations in normocholesterolemic and mildly hypercholesterolemic sahjects.. Eur J Clin Nutr, 52(5) 334-43. 

Ingestion of 2 to 3 g / day of plant sterols and stands will reduce LDL by 6% to 15%. They are usually available in commercial margarines. 

Plant sterols such as sitosterol and camposterol, as by-products from vegetable oils at prices of about 15 kg-1, are also important starting materials for the production of steroid hormones. A new application is the cholesterol lowering property of these sterols esterified with fatty acids (with a production of about 10000 t a 1). They can be found in the margarine Becel pro-active of Unilever. A Finnish equivalent is Benecol, which contains stands such as sitostanol and campostanol, sterols having the 5,6-double bound hydrogenated, also esterified with fatty adds [33]. 

Plant sterols Commercially available margarines containing hydrogenated plant sterols and sterol esters (predominantly sitostanol esters), when used in place of regular margarine, can reduce LDL plasma cholesterol concentrations. The mechanism by which these compounds lower LDL cholesterol concentrations is to inhibit intestinal absorption of dietary cholesterol and cholesterol secreted into the bile. 

Parodi, P. W. 1973B. The sterol content of milk fat, animal fats, margarines and vegetable oils. Aust. J. Dairy Sci. 28, 135-137. 

One of the best therapeutic approaches may be to prevent absorption of cholesterol from the intestines by inclusion of a higher fiber content in the diet.66 Supplementation with a cholesterol-binding resin may provide additional protection. Plant sterols also interfere with cholesterol absorption. Incorporation of esters of sitostanol into margarine provides an easy method of administration. Supplemental vitamin E may also be of value.q Another effective approach is to decrease the rate of cholesterol synthesis by administration of drugs that inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol. Inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase,s hh (e.g., vaLostatin) iso-pentenyl-PP isomerase, squalene synthase (e.g.,... 

Hallikainen, M.A., Sarkkinen, E.S., Gylling, H., Erkkila, A.T., and Uusitupa, MX 2000. Comparison of the effects of plant sterol ester and plant stanol ester-enriched margarines in lowering serum cholesterol concentrations in hypercholesterolaemic subjects on a low-fat diet. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 54, 715-725. 

Weststrate, J.A. and Meijer, G.W. 1998. Plant sterol-enriched margarines and reduction of plasma total- and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in normocholesterolaemic and mildly hypercholester-olaemic subjects. Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 52, 334-343. 

Benecol is a brand of margarine invented by a small Finnish food company (The Raisio Group). Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Finnish researchers indicates that regular use of Benecol can lower blood cholesterol levels by an average of 10 percent in a randomly selected, mildly hypercholesterolemic population sample. Its active ingredient is a plant sterol from Nordic pine trees known as beta-sitostanol, which apparently can block some of the body s absorption of dietary cholesterol. At present, 5 tons of wood waste are processed to produce 1 pound of the oil that is the source of the sterol. 

The use of plant sterols—(3-sitostcrol and sitostanol in consumer products to decrease cholesterol is supported by numerous clinical studies that document their efficacy in lowering mild hyperlipidemia (Jones et al., 1998 Hallikainen and Uusitupa, 1999). Although the normal diet contains plant sterols that range from 160 to 360 mg/day, a 5- to 10-fold increase is required to exert a cholesterol-lowering effect. Consumer products with increased amounts of phytosterols that exceed the content found in the diet have been made available to the consumer. In evaluating the efficacy of including sitostanol ester in margarine as a dietary supplement for children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), it was found that serum total cholesterol (TC), intermediate density lipoprotein-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels fell while the HDL-cholesterol/LDL-cholesterol ratio was elevated. 

Parodi, P.W. (1973a) The sterol content of milkfat, animal fats margarines and vegetable oils. Aus. J. Dairy Technol., 28, 135—137. 

The precursors of vitamins D2 and D3 are ergosterol and 7-dehydrocholesterol, respectively. These precursors or provitamins can be converted into the respective D vitamins by irradiation with ultraviolet light. In addition to the two major provitamins, there are several other sterols that can acquire vitamin D activity when irradiated. The provitamins can be converted to vitamin D in the human skin by exposure to sunlight. Because very few foods are good sources of vitamin D, humans have a greater likelihood of vitamin D deficiency than of any other vitamin deficiency. Enrichment of some foods with vitamin D has significantly helped to eradicate rickets, which is a vitamin D deficiency disease. Margarine and milk are the foods commonly used as carrier for added vitamin D. 

Temme, E.H. et al.. Effects of a plant sterol-enriched spread on serum lipids and lipoproteins in mildly hypercholesterolaemic subjects, Acta Cardiol, 57, 111, 2002. Plat, J. et al.. Effects on serum lipids, lipoproteins and fat soluble antioxidant concentrations of consumption frequency of margarines and shortenings enriched with plant stanol esters, Eur. J. Clin. Nutr., 54, 671, 2000. 

Miettinen, T.A. et al.. Reduction of serum cholesterol with sitostanol-ester margarine in a mildly hypercholesterolemic population, N. Eng. J. Med., 333, 1308, 1995 Maki, K.C et al.. Lipid responses to plant-sterol-enriched reduced-fat spreads incorporated into a National Cholesterol Education Program Step 1 diet. Am. J. Clin. Nutr., 74, 33, 2001. 

Simons, L.A., Additive effect of plant sterol-ester margarine and cerivastatin in lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in primary hypercholesterolemia. Am. J. Cardiol, 90, 737, 2002. 

Weststrate, J.A. et al., Safety evaluation of phytosterol esters. Rart 4. Faecal concentrations of bile acids and neutral sterols in healthy normolipidaemic volunteers consuming a controlled diet either with or without a phytosterol ester-enriched margarine. Food Chem. Toxicol, 37, 1063, 1999. 

Animal fats are subjected to deodorization when a very bland or essentially flavorless fat is desired, such as in margarines or cooking fats. The fats are heated at 200°C to 260°C in the absence of air (to prevent oxidation) and treated with dry steam under a vacuum of 5-10 milliatmospheres. Off-flavor compounds are volatile under these conditions and are captured and removed in the steam stream. In addition to flavor components, free fatty acids, which can also contribute undesirable flavors, and other minor constituents such as peroxides, sterols, sterol esters, toco-pherols, and other natural antioxidants are partially or completely removed from the fat by this treatment. 

A typical Western diet contains approximately 100-300 mg and 20-50 mg of plant sterol and plant stanol, respectively. The relationship between total dietary phytosterol content and the fatty acid composition of the diet decreases with increasing saturated fatty acids, whereas the total dietary phytosterol content increases with increasing PUFA (89). Fortification of lipid foods, such as margarine, with plant sterols will dramatically increase the daily intake of phytosterols and significantly lower serum cholesterol (90). The dietary consumption of large amounts of plant sterols will interfere with cholesterol absorption, thereby leading to an increased daily neutral steroid excretion. 

Phytosterols are industrially isolated from the distillates, resulting from the deodorization of vegetable oils (1, 34—36). Phytosterols are sometimes hydrogenated to produce phytostanols (37). As the solubility of sterols and stanols is very low (< 1% at 25°C), it limits their application in food products. Esterification of sterol and stanols is, therefore, performed to make them fat-soluble and easy to incorporate in food products (37, 38). Two margarines containing 8-9% sterols (Becel Proactiv of Unilever) or stanols (Benecol of Raisio), in the form of esters, are now available in the markets in Europe and the United States. 

Phytosterols are found in most common vegetable oils. For example, soybean oil, one of the most commonly consumed oils, is reported to contain approximately 0.36% sterols and 0.124% tocopherols (15). The effect of phytosterols on the reduction of serum cholesterol has been attributed to the possible inhibition of intestinal reabsorption of circulating cholesterol. The saturated version of sterols, stanols, is reported to be more readily metbolized, and this has led to the development of nutritional supplements and it is used commercially in food products such as margarines. The main stanol reported for this application is sitostanol, a saturated derivative of sitosterol. Sterol and cholesterol are used by the human body to synthesize important hormones such testosterone and progesterone, which are used also in many pharmaceutical applications. 

Lipases have also been employed to isolate tocopherols and sterols, important antioxidants from deodorizer distillate, a by-product formed during the deodoriza-tion step of seed oil purification, by hydrolyzing MAG and DAG in the distillate, and by esterifying sterols into sterol esters. The latter serves as antioxidant in non-polar food products such as margarine (e.g., Benacol from the Raisio Group, Finland and Take Control from Unilever, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, U.S.A.). PUFA-sterol esters would provide the benefits of essential fatty acid intake and antioxidant protection. 

Sterols are crystalline alcohols present in oils, either in the free form or esterified with fatty acids. In CNO they amount to about 1000 mg/kg (ppm) and make up about 20% of the unsaponifiable fraction. Those present in the major oils do not seem to have any strong effect on their behaviour, but they do have important nutritional effects. Cholesterol, for example, which occurs overwhelmingly in animal fats, elevates serum cholesterol, and recently it has been found that phytosterols reduce it. This has led to the appearance of phytosterol-enriched margarines on the market. 

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