Abstract
The extraction technology of sterol was confirmed by ethanol reflux and saponification in this study. The orthogonal test was employed to assess the impact of extraction time, solid-liquid ratio, ethanol concentration and extraction temperature on the yield of sterol extraction. Hyperlipidemia model mice were established by feeding a high-fat and -sugar diet, and different doses of sterol extracts were given to the mice by gavages. The optimal extraction conditions were identified as an extraction time of 80 min, a solid-liquid ratio of 1:10, an ethanol concentration of 95%, and an extraction temperature of 90 °C, resulting in a sterol concentration of 1.16 mg/g. Compared with the high-fat model group, the high-dose group significantly reduced body weight by 17.2%, liver weight by 30.9%, and serum low density lipoprotein cholesterol by 20.0% (p < 0.05), while serum total cholesterol (5.59 ± 0.48 vs. 5.68 ± 0.64 mmol/L) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.98 ± 0.05 vs. 0.93 ± 0.03 mmol/L) showed no significant changes compared to the model group.