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Antioxidant and prebiotic effects of dietary fiber co-travelers from sugar Kombu in healthy rats

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Abstract

The edible brown seaweed sugar Kombu (Saccharina latissima) is a good source of dietary fiber (DF) and associated compounds. Besides it presents antioxidant capacity in vitro due to their sulfated polysaccharides and polyphenols. The effect of a DF-rich sugar Kombu diet on biochemical parameters and antioxidant and prebiotic effects in healthy rats was evaluated. Thus, rats were fed either a basal diet or a supplemented one with 10 % sugar Kombu for 4 weeks. Several health-promoting effects were found such as a decrease in triglycerides (TGL) and uric acid (UrA), and an increase in antioxidant status both in serum and cecum. Regarding prebiotic effect, higher cecum weight and total short chain fatty acid (SCFA) content were evidenced in the seaweed-fed group, without significant differences on total bacterial count of feces. Sugar Kombu and sulfated polysaccharides from its DF could be used as functional ingredients for further nutraceutical applications.

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Acknowledgments

The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through Project AGL2008-00998 ALI supported this research. Thanks are given to Porto-Muiños for the seaweed samples provided.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Metabolism and Nutrition Department, Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos y Nutrición (ICTAN), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), José Antonio Novais 10, Ciudad Universitaria, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain

    Antonio Jiménez-Escrig, Eva Gómez-Ordóñez & Pilar Rupérez

  2. Nutrition and Bromatology II Department, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de Ramón y Cajal, Ciudad Universitaria, ES-28040, Madrid, Spain

    María Dolores Tenorio

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  1. Antonio Jiménez-Escrig
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  2. Eva Gómez-Ordóñez
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Correspondence to Antonio Jiménez-Escrig.

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Jiménez-Escrig, A., Gómez-Ordóñez, E., Tenorio, M.D. et al. Antioxidant and prebiotic effects of dietary fiber co-travelers from sugar Kombu in healthy rats. J Appl Phycol 25, 503–512 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-012-9884-3

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