A Shimadzu (Japan) chromatograph
(model 14A), fitted with flame ionization detector
(FID, 300 C) and the a split/splitless injector (260 C,
split 1:150) was used for the cholesterol analysis. Separation
was carried out in a fused silica capillary column
(25 m; 0.25 mm i.d.), coated with SE-30 (0.25 mm phase
thickness), at 300 C. The carrier gas was hydrogen (1.5
ml/min) and the make-up gas was nitrogen (25 ml/min).
Cholesterol identifications were made by comparing the
relative retention times of peaks from samples with the
standards from SIGMA. For peak integration, a CG-300
Computing Integrator programme (CG Instruments,
Brazil) was used.