Abstract
A procedure based on digitonin precipitation has been used to separate the more abundant free sterols from those occurring in esterified forms. Saponification of the solvent-extracted sediment residue liberated only a small quantity of residual bound sterols in contrast to studies of other sediments. 4-Methylsterols are much more abundant than 4-desmethylsterols in both the free and esterified sterol fractions. An analysis of the stanol/sterol ratios suggests that 4-desmethyl-5alpha (H)-stanols are the result of specific microbial reductions of DELTA (super 5) -sterols and/or the reflection of a contribution of stanol containing source organisms.