Anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) seed on high-fat diet Sprague dawley rats

Ng Shy Kai; Tee Ai Nee; Elaine Lai Chia Ling; Tan Chin Ping; Long Kamariah; Nyam Kar Lin

doi:10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60179-6

Anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) seed on high-fat diet Sprague dawley rats

Asian Pac J Trop Med. 2015 Jan;8(1):6-13. doi: 10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60179-6.

Authors

Ng Shy Kai¹, Tee Ai Nee¹, Elaine Lai Chia Ling¹, Tan Chin Ping², Long Kamariah³, Nyam Kar Lin⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
² Department of Food Technology, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
³ Malaysian Agricultural Research & Development Institute, PO Box 12301, 50774 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
⁴ Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: nyamkl@ucsiuniversity.edu.my.

PMID: 25901917
DOI: 10.1016/S1995-7645(14)60179-6

Abstract

Objective: To determine the antihypercholesterolemic effects of kenaf seed samples and compare with the commercial hypocholesterolemic drug on serum lipids profiles and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the rat.

Methods: Kenaf seed oil (KSO), microencapsulated kenaf seed oil (MKSO), kenaf seed extract (KSE) and defatted kenaf seed meal (DKSM) were prepared and phytochemicals screening on these samples were done prior in vivo study. Phenolic compounds in KSE were quantified using high performance liquid chromatography. There were 40 (divided in eight diet groups of 5) male Sprague dawley rats adapted to normal standard diet or hypercholesterolemic diet (HD) with or without the treatment of these kenaf samples for 32 days.

Results: All the kenaf samples exhibited to contain most of the major phytochemicals. KSE possessed gallic acid, tannic acid, catechin, benzaldehyde, benzoic acid, syringic acid, sinapic acid, ferulic acid, naringin acid, and protocatechuic acid. The significant higher (P<0.05) serum total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and MDA levels in HD group without treatment than the normal control group suggested the hypercholesterolemia was induced by the incorporation of cholesterol into diet. KSE exhibited higher cholesterol-lowering properties due to the significant lower (P<0.05) in serum triglycerides, total cholesterol and MDA levels. KSE showed the highest efficiency of cholesterol-lowering activity, followed by KSO, MKSO and DKSM.

Conclusions: DKSM, MKSO, KSO and KSE appeared to have comparable anti-hypercholesterolemic effect with the commercial hypocholesterolemic drug. Hence, kenaf seed could be used as an alternative natural source to replace the synthetic hypocholesterolemic drugs.

Keywords: Hibiscus cannabinus; Hypercholesterolemia; Oxidative stress; Phenolic compounds; Phytochemical screening; Sprague dawley.