Sterol stability in functional fruit beverages enriched with different plant sterol sources

Abstract Two different plant sterol (PS) sources (free PS from tall oil and esterified PS from vegetable oils) were used for manufacturing two types of functional beverages (fruit and milk-based fruit beverages), and their PS and phytosterol oxidation product (POP) contents were determined. Gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) was used for identification and gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID) for quantitation purposes. Brassicasterol, campesterol, campestanol, stigmasterol, β-sitosterol and sitostanol were the quantified PS, conforming a profile in order with current legislation. The relative percentages of PS differed according to the enrichment source…