Reducing the Egg Cholesterol Level by Including Emulsified Sitosterol in Standard Chicken Diet

Abstract

During a 2-month control period, laying hens were fed a standard ration; cholesterol levels in eggs laid were remarkably constant for each hen, but varied significantly from hen to hen. During the next 2 months, the hens were fed the standard ration supplemented with 0.5% carboxymethylcellulose and 0, 1, 2, or 4% ³H-sitosterol emulsion. Intestinal absorption of the plant sterol from the 2% diet amounted to 60% for laying hens and 85% for non-layers. Lowered egg cholesterol levels and sitosterol incorporation in eggs were established. Similar maximal effects — reducing egg cholesterol levels by as much as 35% and incorporating 42 mg of sitosterol per egg — were observed when either the 2% or the 4% sitosterol diet was fed, but at the higher sitosterol level responses were more prompt. When the hens again were fed the standard layer ration, egg cholesterol levels reverted toward normal. The simultaneous presence of sitosterol may depress intestinal absorption of the reduced egg cholesterol content in the human consumer.