Background: Type-2 diabetes is the most prevalent metabolic disease, which calls for researchers to find many natural products that are effective in fighting diabetes and its complications.
Methods: Stirred yoghurt samples were prepared, enriched with probiotics, and fortified with either 1% or 2% of the fine powder of beetroots. The chemical, physical, sensorial, and microbial properties of the yoghurt samples were studied over a 15-day storage period. The total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, antioxidant activity as well as the reducing power of the dried beetroot and the yoghurt samples were assessed.The prepared yoghurt samples were evaluated in type 2 diabetic rats.
Results: Fortification with beetroot led to an increase of the total phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and the probiotic counts in the prepared yoghurt. The intervention with the prepared yoghurt samples resulted in an increase in the number of beneficial bacteria in diabetic rats’ feces, hypoglycemic effect, and suppression in the elevation of C-reactive protein (CRP) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
Conclusions: This study suggests that stirred yoghurt enriched with probiotics and fortified with beetroot have therapeutic potential for type 2 diabetes.
Keywords: Streptozotocin; beetroot; high fat diet; probiotic; stirred yoghurt; type 2 diabetes.