Standardization of cereal and pseudo-cereal products and their effect on herperlipidemia in wistar rats

Abstract

Cardio vascular diseases (CVD) are the world s largest killers, claiming 17.1 million lives a year. Several epidemiological studies have shown the relationship between the incidence of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and nutrition. The WHO Expert Committee concluded that there is a well established triangular relationship between habitual diet, blood cholesterol level and CHD. A diet high in whole grains has been reported to have health benefits, such as reduced risk of CVD. Dietary fats play an important role in determining the levels of lipids in serum and liver which are important risk factors responsible for CHD. A large intake of fibre is associated with a lower relative risk of death from coronary heart disease. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids and fibre diets have been recommended to lower plasma cholesterol and triglycerides which is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Hence, in the light of the above facts, the work was carried out on standardization of cereal and pseudo-cereal products inorder to study their effect on hyperlipidemia in wistar rats. The results arrived, with respect to the processing and preparation of selected cereals such as raw brown rice, parboiled brown rice, Italian millet and samai are dealt below. The selected cereal and pseudo-cereals milling yield, moisture content, water holding capacity, effects of soaking on the rate of equilibrium moisture content of cereals, chemical characteristics of the cereals were studied. It was found that the parboiled brown rice had higher milling yield of grain weight (76.20 %), water holding capacity (58.20 %) and rate of equilibrium moisture content (62.80 %) of cereals compared to other cereals such as raw brown rice, Italian millet and samai. The Italian millet had higher percentage of protein (10.05 %), fat (5.20 %), crude fiber (7.89 %) and low total carbohydrate (65.23 %) content compared to other cereals.