Authors: Shodehinde S.A, Odubanjo V.O, Adekiya T.A.
Hypercholesterolemia is considered as a condition that leads to the development of coronary heart disease and other related liver problems. Laboratory trials of hypercholesterolemia have been demonstrated towards its management. Unripe plantain (Musa paradisiaca) is one of the most important global food commodities that serves as a good source of carbohydrate with a least contribution to body fat content. This study sought to investigate the influence of unripe plantain products supplemented diet in hypercholesterolemia induced experimental rats. Hypercholesterolemia was induced by using 1% cholesterol while the hypercholesterolemic rats were treated with diets supplemented with 20-40% of raw plantain flour (RAPF) and roasted plantain flour (ROPF) respectively for four weeks. The influence of the diets on the lipid profile, liver function biomarkers and lipid peroxidation were examined. A significant (p<0.05) increase in weight, total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-c values with a corresponding reduction of HDL-c in hypercholesterolemic rats were observed in hypercholesterolemic rats. However, these parameters were significantly (p<0.05) reduced after the rats fed on RAPF and ROPF for four weeks. ROPF diet groups exhibited the overall highest anti-hypercholesterolemic effect. The exerted antihypercholesterolemic effect could be attributed to the activities of ioactive phytoconstituents that abound in unripe plantain earlier studied in vitro.
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