Overview "Frequently Asked Questions on Plant Sterols"

What are sterols?

Sterols are a group of fat-like substances which occur naturally in the animal and plant kingdom. The most well known animal sterol is cholesterol, the most frequently occurring plant sterols are ß-sitosterol, campesterol and stigmasterol. They have a similar structure to cholesterol. Their basis molecular framework contains a double bond. If this double bond is hydrolysed, saturated plant stanols are formed from the unsaturated plant sterols. Synonyms for plant sterols are phytosterols.