Policosanol, a naturally occurring compound found in some plants, such as sugar cane wax, beeswax and rice bran wax, is a combination of several fatty alcohol molecules. Policosanol has gained considerable attention in research circles and for its potential cholesterol-lowering ability. Check with your doctor before taking policosanol to lower cholesterol.
Wheat
Wheat showed high levels of octacosanol in a comparison study of 31 varieties of wheat conducted by researchers at Oklahoma State University, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences and Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center. In the study, wheat bran showed higher concentrations of policosanol than those in wheat germ or wheat flour. The major policosanol components extracted from the wheat samples were tetracosanol, hexacosanol and octacosanol. Trego and Intrada varieties showed the highest policosanol content. Researchers noted that wheat varieties grown under identical conditions show significant variability in policosanol content. The study was published in the July 2005 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."
Peanuts
Tunisian peanuts showed high levels of policosanol in a study published in the November 2010 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry." Researchers at the Laboratoire de Biochimie, des Lipides et des Protéines, Département de Biologie, Tunisia, compared three peanut varieties, two cultivated and one wild, and found the policosanol extracts to be comprised of primarily docosanol, hexadecanol and octadecanol. Total policosanol content of the three samples ranged from 11 mg per 100 g to 54 mg per 100 g of peanut oil. The peanuts contained higher policosanol concentrations than those in either beeswax or sugar cane.
Pomegranate Seed Oil
Pomegranate seed oil contains significant quantities of policosanols, according to a study conducted at the Dipartimento di Chimica Organica e Industriale, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy. Policosanol levels of 118 mg to 185 mg per kg were obtained. Other related phytonutrients extracted from pomegranate in the study included, beta-sitosterol -- a cholesterol-like compound that may lower cholesterol levels -- cycloartenol -- a stanol compound -- and several forms of vitamin E. The researchers conclude there may be significant potential nutraceutical value in pomegranate seed oil. The study appeared in the September 2010 issue of the journal "Plant Foods in Human Nutrition."
Perilla Seeds
Seeds from perilla -- an annual herb in the mint family -- yielded 72 mg per kg of policosanols in a study conducted at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Center for Healthcare Technology Development, Chonbuk National University, Korea. Sesame seeds were tested in the same study and showed a policosanol content of 8.6 mg per kg of waxy compounds, comprised of less than 5 percent policosanol. The study was published in the July 2006 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry."
References
- "Basic Health Publications User's Guide to Policosanol & Other Natural Ways ... "; Mark Stengler; 2003
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Comparison of the Concentrations of Long-chain Alcohols (Policosanol) in Three Tunisian Peanut Varieties; A. Cherif; November 2010
- "Plant Foods in Human Nutriton"; Characterization of a Potential Nutraceutical Ingredient: Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) Seed Oil Unsaponifiable Fraction; A. Caligiani, et al.; September 2010
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Policosanol Contents and Compositions of Wheat Varieties; S. Irmak, et al.; July 2005
- "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry"; Policosanol Content and Composition in Perilla Seeds; P. Adhikari, et al.; July 2006
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