Fiber composition and dietary efect of selected vegetables on hte serum cholesterol levels of Rats
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Date
1998-11-07
Authors
Wimalasiri, W. R.
Perera, P. A. J.
Kulanathan, K.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Peradeniya
Abstract
Ischaemic heart disease is a major cause of mortality among the middle aged
population in Sri Lanka, and hyperlipidaemia has been identified as a common risk factor.
Since cholesterol is reported to have the greatest atherogenic potential, dietary intervention
in lowering serum cholesterol is of importance. The role of dietary fiber in lowering serum
cholesterol is also recognized.
An investigation was carried out to determine the fiber composition of locally
available vegetables and the effect of five selected vegetables on the serum cholesterol
levels of rats was studied. Two grams of oven dried (700 C) edible portions of fifteen
selected vegetables, in triplicate, were analyzed using Helledoorn's enzymatic and
gravimetric procedure and the fiber composition was calculated as a soluble dietary fiber
(SDF) insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) and total dietary fiber (TDF) per non pectin fiber, as
g per 100 g dry weight.
Three months old, male, Sprague-Dawley rats of weight 169-195 g, in groups of
three, were fed with prima broiler feed, with and without oven dried vegetables (25%w/w),
supplemented with cholesterol (1%w/w) and cholic acid (0.2% w/w). After 3 weeks the
rats were bled after a 14h fast and their serum total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol, were
estimated enzymatically using the Randox kits. The results were analyzed for any
significant cholesterol lowering effect using Duncan's multiple range tests.
Leafy vegetables had the highest mean TDF (69.3 to 55.0) with pulses having
intermediate values (51.6 to 24.6) and pumpkin and garlic having the lowest values (18.9
and 12.2). SDF was highest in carrot, brinjal, snake gourd, bitter gourd and radish and
these ranged from 24.9 to 14.3. These five vegetables when tested with the rats, didn't
cause an appreciable change in either total cholesterol or HDL-cholesterol, except with
bitter gourd which was found to be significantly different from the group, for total
cholesterol at a. = 0.05, and for non HDL-cholesterol at a = 0.10.
Bitter gourd had a marked cholesterol lowering potential when compared to other
vegetables tested. Further investigation is necessary to determine other dietary factors that
may affect cholesterol metabolism, in addition to dietary fiber.
Description
Keywords
Health Sciences , Vegetables , Cholesterol , Rats
Citation
Proceedings & Abstracts of the Annual Research Sessions,1998,University of Peradeniya, peradeniya, Sri Lanka, pp 43