Factors affecting sample preparation in the gas chromatographic determination of plant sterols in whole wheat flour

摘要

A fractional factorial experimental design was applied to study factors affecting sample preparation prior to a gas chromato-graphic determination of total plant steorls in cereal samples. Whole wheat flour was chosen for the representative matrix. Altogether six factors were studied at two levles. The most affecting factors were a type of hydrolysis (combined acid hydrolysis and alkaline hydrolysis over alkaline hydrolysis alone), extraction solvent after saponification (chloroform over hexane-ether), and sample amount (1.0 g over 2.0 g).