Dyslipidemia Protective Effect of Resistant Starch-Based Dough Meals on Diabetes-Induced Rats

Aim: The adoption of functional foods as healthy diet therapy for the management of metabolic disorders such as diabetes is in vogue in the present world where many are no longer consuming carbohydrate or starchy foods. This study investigated the effect of resistant starch-based dough meals on dyslipidemia in rats with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes.

Place and Duration: Functional Foods Laboratory and Animal House of Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Akure, from July 2022 to February 2023.

Methodology: Flour samples were prepared by dispersing the flour into boiling water and turning and being allowed to cook for 15 min to obtain dough meals: PLD – (100% Plantain flour), used as a control sample; PLPRD – plantain flour: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); PSPRD – native plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); AP1SPRD – acetylated plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (73.08:15.15:11.76); AP2SPRD – acetylated plantain starch: pigeon pea flour: rice bran flour (70.67:18.15:11.18). The weight gained, food intake, haematological parameters, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile of the resistant starch-based dough meal were compared with the commercial flour product, CRD (100% Cerolina flour: wheat and soybean) and the DM (untreated high-fat diet–STZ-induced diabetic rats) and NC (Normal control rats).

Results: The weight gained and food intake ranged from 50.98±0.53 g to 180.12±1.07 g in NC and 33.98±1.64 g to 140.87±1.80 g in DM. The feed conversion ratio to the feed efficiency ratio was 0.28:0.25 and 4.15:3.53 in NC and DM respectively, which attributed to the food product to weight loss. The values of the haematological parameters (PCV, RBC, HB, MCV, MCH and MCHC) confirmed that the experimental rats had no trace of infection due to the generation of antibodies by WBC and differential counts (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes and lymphocytes). Rats fed with DM+AP1SPRD showed a decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol and triglyceride, and an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HLDL-C).

Conclusion: A resistant starch-based dough meal was significant for the production of short-chain fatty acids with lots of benefits on health. The intervention of resistant starch-based dough meals, AP1SPRD and AP2SPRD used in this study, almost normalized metabolic profiles in the experimental rats, similar to the control group by reducing the total cholesterol, total triglycerides and LDL-C while increasing HDL-C.