Sterol Composition of Some Seaweeds

Abstract Eleven species of seaweeds were analyzed for the content and composition of sterols utilizing column and gas chromatography, and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry. Rhodophyta species contain primarily cholesterol; only one species contains large amount of desmosterol. Fucosterol is the dominant sterol of Phaeophyta, apparently the major sterol of every species examined. Most Phaeophyta also contain small amount of cholesterol and biosynthetic precursors of fucosterol. Sterol content in Chlorophyta is very similar to higher plants, and it contains large amount of cholesterol. The compositional study of sterols may be of value in the systematics of plants such as the Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta and especially the Chlorophyta.