Toxicological and nutraceutical assessments of peanut sprouts as daily supplements to feed Sprague-Dawley rats for 18 weeks

• Autores: Bo-Si Lin, Tu-Fa Lien, Mao-Rong Chao, Tzu-Yuan Lai, Ju-Chun Chang, Shieh-Jen Chou, Hui-Fen Liao, Robin Y-Y Chiou
• Localización: Journal of the science of food and agriculture, ISSN 0022-5142, Vol. 88, Nº 12, 2008, págs. 2201-2207
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • BACKGROUND: Peanut sprouts are occasionally consumed by peanut farmers. To investigate the possibility of introducing peanut sprouts as a functional vegetable to the public, an in vivo experiment involving toxicological and nutraceutical assessments was conducted. RESULTS: Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks old) were fed with peanut sprouts as a dietary supplement for 18 weeks. The rats were divided into five groups and fed with different daily supplements, namely 0 g (control), 16.5, 10 or 6 g of sprouts or 2.4 g of kernels. Aflatoxin contents of the sprouts (n = 24) were less than 1 µg kg−1. Body weights of all rats increased with feeding time, and final body weights differed insignificantly among test groups (P > 0.05). Weights of liver, kidney and spleen and organ/body weight ratios varied insignificantly among test groups (P > 0.05). All serum and blood cell determinations differed insignificantly (P > 0.05) among test groups, apart from the observation of a significant lowering of serum triacylglycerol (TG) level in the 10 g sprout group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In general, no obvious growth hazard or health toxicity was detected. For nutraceutical development, the lowering of serum TG level achieved by appropriate intake of peanut sprouts is noteworthy. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry