Cholesterol is prone to oxidation, which results in the formation of cholesterol oxidation products (COPs). This occurs because it is a monounsaturated lipid with a double bond on C-5 position. Cholesterol in foods is mostly non-enzymatically oxidized by reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated auto-oxidative reaction. The COPs are found in many common foods of animal-origin and are formed during their manufacture process. The formation of COPs is mainly related to the temperature and the heating time the food is processed, storage condition, light exposure and level of activator present such as free radical. The level of COPs in processed foods could reach up to 1-10 % of the total cholesterol depending on the foods. The most predominant COPs in foods including meat, eggs, dairy products as well as other foods of animal origin were 7-ketocholesterol, 7 α-hydroxycholesterol (7α-OH), 7β-hydroxycholesterol (7β-OH), 5,6α-epoxycholesterol (5,6α -EP), 5,6β-epoxycholesterol (5,6β-EP), 25-hydoxycholesterol (25-OH), 20-hydroxycholesterol (20-OH) and cholestanetriol (triol). They are mainly formed non-enzymatically by cholesterol autoxidation. The COPs are known to be potentially more hazardous to human health than pure cholesterol. The procedure to block cholesterol oxidation in foods should be similar to that of lipid oxidation inhibition since both cholesterol and lipid oxidation go through the same free radical mechanism. The formation of COPs in foods can be stopped by decreasing heating time and temperature, controlling storage condition as well as adding antioxidants into food products. This review aims to present, discuss and respond to articles and studies published on the topics of the formation and inhibition of COPs in foods and key factors that might affect cholesterol oxidation. This review may be used as a basic guide to control the formation of COPs in the food industry.

The effect of cooking(boiling, steaming and baking) and drying on the cholesterol content and formation of oxidized cholesterols and acid value in squid(Japanese flying squid, Todarodes pacificus) was studied. Cholesterol content of live squid meat varied with the portion sampled. The data from spectophotometric assay ranged from 263.2 mg/100g(mantle) to 315.8 mg/100g(tentacle). The cholesterol levels found for squid samples analyzed by gas chromatography(GC) were lower by 7% of total cholesterol for live squid meat and 24% for processed meat than those results by spectrophotometric assay. Cooking resulted some decrease in the initial total cholesterol content of raw meat from 10%(boiling for 5 min.) to 25%(steaming for 5 min.). The amounts of cholesterol remaining after baking were 68% for microwave oven samples and 64% for convection oven samples. Drying of raw tissue caused the greater reduction in cholesterol content than cooking but brought about no significant difference in samples stored for 6 weeks at 4℃ and 20℃. Raw squid meats contained essentially no oxidized cholesterols, while the 22-hydroxychoesterol was detected in frozen meats. The additional oxidized cholesterols as cholestane-triol was indentified with 22-hydroxycholesterol in cooked samples. Sun dried meat stored at 4℃ and 20℃ for 6 weeks had the three kinds of oxidized cholesterols such as 22-hydroxycholesterol, cholesta-3,5-dien-7-one and cholestane-triol. For the boiled and steamed squids, 10% higher acid value and 5% higher acid value respectively were observed but oven cooked samples resulted in a 50% higher acid value than raw samples. Squids had a 45% higher acid value than raw one during sundrying and presrevation at 20℃ but there was not a severe difference of acid value between 4℃ and 20℃ stored samples.