Decrease of cholesterol content in cereal products containing animal-based components

Abstract The daily intake of excessive cholesterol plays an important role in the incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), while the main contributors are foods of animal origin. However, animal-based foods are also common components of many cereal products, which can then play a role of hidden cholesterol source. Thus, this study aims to decrease cholesterol content in three types of commonly consumed cereal products (biscuits, pasta, and muffins) by replacing original animal-based components (milk and eggs) with the same components, from which the cholesterol was removed using β-cyclodextrin treatment procedure. The cholesterol content in the original and treated samples was then analyzed using the validated HPLC–UV method. So, while the cholesterol content in the original biscuits, pasta, and muffins was observed at 329.2, 1117.1, and 487.2 mg/kg levels, the same products containing low cholesterol animal-based components exhibited a considerable decrease in cholesterol content by 93.1, 91.6, and 89.5%, respectively. The optimum β-cyclodextrin level was observed at 4.0, 10.0, and 2.0% (w/w) for butter, egg melange, and milk, respectively. Furthermore, it is notable that the β-cyclodextrin treatment procedure itself did not significantly change the organoleptic profiles of the cereal products, such as colour, culinary, and texture properties. Therefore, it can be concluded that the application of animal-based low cholesterol components in cereal food products could be one of the effective tools in the overall strategy to decrease the total daily cholesterol intake. Thus, this study presents a novel strategy that could have substantial health benefits in relation to the incidence of CVD.