A method for the determination of β-sitosterol in edible vegetable oil was established by gaschromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). After the oil sample was saponified by 2 mol/L potassium hydroxide-ethanol solution and the unsaponifiable fractions were extracted by petroleum ether,β-sitosterol could be analyzed by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in multiple reaction monitoring mode. There was a good linear relationship in the range of 2.0-20.0 μg/mL. The correlation coefficient, the recovery of cholesterol, the relative standard deviation and the limit of detection of the method were 0.999 6, 95.7%-101.4%, 1.0%-3.7% and 0.2 mg/kg, respectively.The method had the items of simpleness and sensitiveness, which was applicable to determine the content of β-sitosterol in edible vegetable oil. |