Polished and cargo rice, wild rice, rice bran, corn bran, and wheat bran were subjected to a static in vitro digestion model, to monitor changes in their steryl ferulate content and composition. Free sterols, possible hydrolysis products of steryl ferulates, were also measured. Additionally, steryl ferulate bioaccessibility was calculated as the percentage of steryl ferulates liberated from the grain matrix into the digestive juice. Steryl ferulate content ranged between 6.1 and 3900 μg/g and decreased by 1-63% due to digestion. A parallel increase in free sterols of more than 70% was observed in all samples. Additionally, bioaccessibility of steryl ferulates was found to be almost negligible. These findings suggest that intestinal enzymes immediately hydrolyze steryl ferulates, which are liberated from the grain matrix, and thus they are practically unavailable for absorption in the small intestine. This further indicates that the hydrolysis products of steryl ferulates could be bioactive in the gut.

Steryl ferulates are a mixture of minor bioactive compounds, possessing well-established health benefits. However, individual steryl ferulate species show structural differences, which seem to substantially influence their health-promoting potential. In this study, we tested Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, as potential tools in the identification of steryl ferulates. On the basis of our spectral data obtained from various individual steryl ferulates and steryl ferulate mixtures extracted from rice (γ-oryzanol), corn bran, and wheat bran, we provide comprehensive peak assignment tables for both FTIR and Raman. With the help of FTIR spectroscopy, structural differences between individual steryl ferulates were possible to identify, such as the presence of the cyclopropane ring and additional differences in the side chain of the sterane skeleton. Data obtained with Raman spectroscopy provided us with a control for FTIR peak assignment and also with some additional information on the samples. However, detecting structural differences between steryl ferulates was not possible with this method. We consider that FTIR spectroscopy alone or combined with Raman provides detailed data on the structures of steryl ferulates. Moreover, thorough peak assignment tables presented in this study could prove to be helpful tools when identifying steryl ferulates, especially as a group, in future studies.

Steryl ferulates are minor bioactive phytochemicals present in various cereal grains and other seeds. They possess well-established health promoting properties, such as antioxidant and cholesterol lowering activities. However, the health promoting potential of steryl ferulates extracted from different sources can vary depending on their characteristic sterol composition.Despite the fact that c-oryzanol is widely added to cosmetic products as an antioxidant, only one study has investigated its pos-

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