Determination of ergosterol in Ganoderma spore lipid from the germinating spores of Ganoderma lucidum by high-performance liquid chromatography

A gradient reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the separation and determination of free ergosterol in ganoderma spore lipid (GSL) extracted from the sporoderm-broken germinating spores of Ganoderma lucidum. Sodium hydroxide in methanol was added for the hydrolysis of ergosteryl esters to determine the total content of ergosterol in GSL by HPLC. A 0.04 M concentration of sodium hydroxide in reaction mixtures was appropriate for the complete hydrolysis of ergosteryl esters without a significant loss of ergosterol during saponification. In addition, the ergosterol content in four commercial GSL softgel supplements from four different firms was determined. The results showed that the ergosterol content in these samples had significant differences. Ergosterol content may be a suitable marker for evaluating the quality of GSL products.