Abstract

The risk of consuming large quantities of food containing cholesterol has been widely known by the community. However, information concerning cholesterol content in a variety of foods originating from animal tissue is not very well known. By knowing the cholesterol content of food products, people could restrict or prevent their consumption of high cholesterol food and select foods with a low cholesterol content. The cholesterol content of various foods originating from animal tissues, such as beef, mutton, broiler and domestic chicken meat, entrails (liver, heart, kidney and intestines), skin, tail part and eggs and fish (salt water and fresh water) had been investigated. Cholesterol content was analysed using David Sleighton's method, which was a modification from Abell et. al. The study revealed that the cholesterol content of every 100 g wet weight meat of domestic chiken was similar to that of broiler chicken, 116 mg and 110 mg respectively. Cholesterol content of broiler chiken entrails was higher than that of domestic chicken. The highest cholesterol content of broiler chicken entrails was liver (529 mg/100 g) and the lowest was heart (171 mg/100 g), while for domestic chicken, the highest was kidney (336 mg/100 g) and the lowest was heart (164 mg/100 g). Egg yolk cholesterol content of domestic chicken was 922 mg/100 g nearly two folds of broiler chicken's egg which was 485 mg/100 g. The highest content of cholesterol among salt water animals was shrimp (179 mg/100 g) and the lowest was pomfret (97 mg/100 g), while for fresh water fishes the highest was catfish (94 mg/100 g) and the lowest was mujair (52 mg/100 g).