Hypolipidemic-hepatoprotective effect of a cookie added with Opuntia atropes cladodes and Opuntia joconostle fruits in a rat model

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the main cause of chronic liver disease worldwide. The objective of this study was to develop cookies added with flour from Opuntia atropes cladodes and Opuntia joconostle fruits and to evaluate the hypolipidemic-hepatoprotective effect in Wistar rats. Rodents were fed for 12 weeks with a hyperlipidic diet to induce obesity and NAFLD. Diets based on cookies were evaluated on the biochemical parameters in the blood and the liver (F1, with 15 % O. atropes cladodes flour; F2, with 15 % O. joconostle fruit flour; and F3, with 15 % of a 1:1 mixture of flours derived from O. atropes cladodes and O. joconostle fruits). Rodents that were fed with diets based on F1, F2, and F3 showed a decrease in the Lee index of 8.0 %, with the total lipid content and triacylglycerols in the liver being 36.5–41.4 % and 54.9–73.1 %, respectively. The F1 group showed a reduction in weight gain of 30.8 % in comparison to the positive control group. These effects were attributed to the flavonoid compounds and dietary fiber. This is the first study that reports the combination of O. atropes cladodes and O. joconostle fruits in cookies, which could prevent NAFLD and obesity.

Keywords

• Flavonoids
• Dietary fiber
• Functional food
• Obesity
• NAFLD