The addition of cactus flour (Opuntia ficus indica) to the Western-style diet attenuates the onset of metabolic disorders in rats

• Published in: Nutrition and food science Vol. 49; no. 4; pp. 564 - 579
• Main Authors: Cysneiros, Graziele Fonseca, Gonzalez, Judith Libertad Chavez, Marcelino da Silva, Amanda Alves, Cavalcante, Taisy Cinthia Ferro, Quevedo, Omar Guzman, Lira, Eduardo Carvalho, Soares, Juliana Kessia, Franco, Eryvelton de Souza, do Nascimento, Elizabeth, Flores, Héctor Eduardo Flores Martínez
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Publishing Limited 12-08-2019; Emerald Group Publishing Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Antioxidants; Body fat; Body weight; Body weight gain; Cactus; Cell cycle; Cholesterol; Diabetes; Diet; Dietary intake; Dietary minerals; Fatty acids; Flour; Food; Food intake; Functional foods & nutraceuticals; Glucose; Glucose tolerance; Glycogen; Lipids; Metabolic disorders; Nutrition research; Nutritive value; Obesity; Opuntia ficus-indica; Parameters; Standard deviation; Triglycerides; Westernization; Glucose tolerance; Rats; Western-style diet; Opuntia fícus indica; Body fat
• ISSN: 0034-6659; 1758-6917
• DOI: 10.1108/NFS-08-2018-0231

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of a 15-week dietary intake of cactus flour on metabolic parameters, body weight and dietary intake of rats.
Design/methodology/approach
Male Wistar rats were divided into four experimental groups (n = 8-10): control or westernized diets added or not of cactus flour. The following parameters were evaluated during the period of dietary manipulation: body weight, food intake, glycemic and lipid profile (oral glucose tolerance test, metabolic parameters, hepatic and muscular glycogen dosage), visceral and body fat (relative weight to body weight). Data were analyzed using Graphpad Prism®5, p = 0.05.
Findings
Animals fed on a Western-style diet together with flour cactus presented lower weight gain (335.7 ± 20.0, p = 0.05) over the evaluated period, even when the volume of food intake was not different among the groups. The addition of cactus flour to a Western-style diet appears to lower glucose levels at 30 and 60 min (p = 0.05), as shown in the glucose tolerance curve. There was a downward trend does fat stores, cholesterol levels and triglycerides. Therefore, it was concluded that this addition cactus flour is effective even when the diet is hyperlipidic, demonstrating its ability to attenuate risk parameters for the occurrence of metabolic syndromes such as sub fraction high cholesterol levels and glucose tolerance.
Originality/value
The addition of functional foods to diets may work to improve the harmful effects of this type of diet. Opuntia ficus indica has high nutritional value and has hypoglycemic and hypolipemic properties besides being antioxidant.