Prebiotic effects of a mixture of agavins and green banana flour in a mouse model of obesity

Abstract

Dietary fibers from agavins and green banana flour are resistant to digestion but promote beneficial fermentation by gut microbiota. Therefore, the main of this work was evaluate potential synergistic effects of AV and BF on energy intake; body weight gain; metabolic markers, and gut short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels in ad libitum-fed, obese mice. C57BL/6 male mice were fed a standard (ST) or high-fat (HF) diet, supplemented with agavins (AV), green banana flour (BF), or with the mixture (MX). As relevant results HF diet-fed mouse showed a significant increase in body weight, and decrease in SCFA (t-test, p < 0.05). Mice fed with BF diet significantly decreased body weight and metabolic markers (p < 0.05). The use of a combination of AV and BF offer synergistic protection against the metabolic sequelae of obesity and warrant consideration as interventions against obesity-related disorders.

Keywords

• Dietary fiber
• Obesity
• Short-chain fatty acids