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Absorption of Dietary ß-Sitosterol in Laying Hens and its Incorporation into the Egg¹

Departments of Medicine and Poultry Science, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 0W0, Canada

Studies were undertaken to determine the dietary ß-sitosterol absorption in laying hens and its incorporation into the egg. Hens were divided into four groups and fed a commercial low-fat laying diet. Group 1 served as controls; the diet of group 2 was supplemented with 10% corn oil; group 3 with 4% plant sterols (emulsion in carboxymethylcellulose); group 4 with 10% corn oil and 4% plant sterols. The daily ß-sitosterol intake of hens in groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 was 0.036 g, 0.095 g, 2 g and 2.56 g, respectively. After consuming the diets for 30 to 40 days, cholesterol and ß-sitosterol contents of the eggs were estimated by gas liquid chromatographic and mass spectrometric methods. Feeding corn oil with and without plant sterols increased cholesterol content of the eggs, while feeding plant sterols alone had no effect on egg cholesterol levels. The ß-sitosterol content of eggs from groups 1 and 2 was similar (60–66 µg/g yolk) and feeding plant sterols increased the ß-sitosterol content to a very small extent (82–90 µg/g yolk). Studies on the dietary ß-sitosterol and cholesterol absorption indicated that there was very little absorption of ß-sitosterol. In control hens, ß-sitosterol absorption was about 7% compared to 81% cholesterol absorption. Plant sterols feeding did not affect the ß-sitosterol absorption but reduced cholesterol absorption by 40%. Feeding corn oil alone did not affect cholesterol absorption. Failure to detect any significant amount of ß-sitosterol in the eggs may be due to the lack of absorption of ß-sitosterol in these hens. At the peak radioactivity deposition in the eggs, only 2% of the absorbed ß-sitosterol radioactivity was found in the eggs of group 4 compared to 5% found in group 1, while cholesterol radioactivity was nearly 4 to 5 times in both groups. These data suggested that laying hens synthesized specific lipoproteins for deposition in yolk.

KEY WORDS: • chicken • egg • ß-sitosterol • cholesterol • absorption • yolk lipoproteins

¹ Supported by grants from the Canadian and Saskatchewan Heart Foundations and Canada Department of Agriculture.

² Dr. Kudchodkar was a Research Fellow of the Canadian Heart Foundation.

Manuscript received 24 November 1975.