Assessment of food contamination with cholesterol oxidation products

The aim of the project is to assess the content and profile of COPs in products available on the Polish market and the impact of selected technological processes on the level of these contaminants in ready-to-eat food.

The scope of the project will include the following topics:

[1] Optimization and full validation of the method for determining the content and COPs profile in food. 

[2] Assessment of the content and profile of COPs in food available on the Polish market, including
traditional products.

[3] Influence of technological processes (baking, frying, smoking; red meat / fish) and maturation time (dairy products) on the content and profile of COPs.

The research material will be market products from three groups: [1] dairy products, [2] red meat and its products, [3] fish and their products. Determination of oxysterols will be carried out using high-performance liquid chromatography with UV and RID detectors, but the obtained results will be confirmed by mass spectrometry. The following compounds will be marked in the products: 7-ketocholesterol, 7α-hydroxycholesterol, 7β-hydroxycholesterol, 5-6α-epoxycholesterol, 5-6β-epoxycholesterol, 25-hydroxycholestrol, cholestanetriol and others. Estimated number of attempts (problems 2 + 3) approx. 650.

This project is only a preliminary study for subsequent works. The future project submitted to the National Science Center will cover [1] the assessment of the exposure of the Polish population to food contamination of animal origin resulting from technological processes (including maturation, thermal processes), with particular emphasis on COPs and biogenic amines, in the context of the pathogenesis of selected diseases non-infectious and [2] to learn about the factors determining the formation of these compounds in food in order to create prognostic models determining their level depending on the product composition and applied technological parameters, within three product groups: dairy products, red meat and its products, fish and their products.

The results obtained under the project will be published in at least two articles in reputable scientific journals (List A of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education), which will be included in the series of publications constituting the basis for initiating the habilitation procedure.