Efficacy of acacia, pectin, and guar gum-based fiber supplementation in the control of hypercholesterolemia

doi:10.1016/S0271-5317(99)00029-9

Nutrition Research

Volume 19, Issue 5, May 1999, Pages 643-649

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(99)00029-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

We examined the lipid-lowering effects of an acacia, pectin, and guar gum-based product marketed as a fiber supplement, in 50 adults (mean age= 55.4 years) who had an LDL-C ⩾ 4.1 mmol/l (160 mg/dl), or ⩾ 3.4 mmol/l (130 mg/dl) if at least two coronary risk factors were present. All subjects were instructed on a Step I diet not to exceed 30% calories in fat, and half of subjects were randomly assigned to receive 2 packets of the fiber product, containing a total of 9g of fiber. Baseline lipids, medical history, and dietary factors were similar in the two groups. Analysis of covariance adjusted for age, weight change, saturated fat and cholesterol intake, and baseline lipids, demonstrated reductions of 0.4 mmol/l (15.7 mg/dl) in both total (p=0.03) and LDL-cholesterol (p=0.01) after four weeks among those in the fiber supplement group, relative to the diet-only group. A trend of greater lipid reductions and weight loss in the fiber supplement group continued after 12 weeks on the prescribed regimen. Compliance to the prescribed packet count averaged 83% in those completing four weeks (n=21) and 94% in those completing 12 weeks (n=18) on the product. Gastrointestinal discomfort was the most common side effect, documented in 15 (60%) of those initially assigned to the product. Fiber nutrient supplementation with a commercially available acacia, pectin, and guar gum-based product may provide modest short-term benefits in reducing total and LDL-cholesterol, beyond that achieved by a standard cholesterol-lowering diet. The long-term benefits of such products await the conduct of larger, longer-term studies.

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2021, Sustainable Production Technology in Food
In the last decades, the interest in new food products with improved functional properties that promote health benefits is growing. Agri-food by-products constitute an excellent bio-resource to obtain new prebiotics and functional oligosaccharides. Particularly, pectin-rich agricultural by-products are potential cost-effective sources of functional pectooligosaccharides (POS) that have been outlined in recent years as emerging prebiotics with numerous health-promoting effects. An important aspect that influences the functionalities of the POS is the extraction methods. In this sense, a variety of alternative methods have been described to obtain POS using different sources including conventional and emerging intensification technologies. Several biological activities of POS such as prebiotic, antidiabetic, anticholesterolemic, antiobesity, antitumor, antioxidant, antiinflamatory, and antimicrobial, among other, have been described. Therefore, POS could be excellent candidates to formulate functional food by the nutraceutical industry. This chapter collects the aforementioned aspects to give an overview of the potential of POS as functional compounds obtained from renewable resources.
Agro waste derived pectin poly and oligosaccharides: Synthesis and functional characterization
2021, Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology
Citation Excerpt :
Bioconversion of carbohydrate waste is also receiving increased attention in view of the fact that these wastes can act as substrate for the production of useful nutraceuticals, biomaterials and chemical intermediates (Panchami and Gunasekaran, 2017). Health benefits of pectin oligosaccharides (POS), include anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, antitumor, anti-cancer, and prebiotic properties as mentioned in Fig. 1 (Hosobuchi et al., 1999; Koriem et al., 2014; Holck et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2017; Kapoor and Dharmesh, 2017; Ogutu et al., 2018). POS derived from different plant materials display bifidogenic effects (Gullon et al., 2013).
Humans consume majorly the plants derived carbohydrates in their diet. The major component of plant material comprises of complex polysaccharides rich in arabinan, arabinogalactan, rhamnogalactan and polygalacturonic acid. Dietary fibers are resistant to human digestive enzymes and are exclusively fermented by the beneficial bacteria present in the intestine, termed as microbial accessible carbohydrates (MAC). The beneficial bacteria utilize the MAC to produce antimicrobial substances and short chain fatty acids to maintain the complex microbial diversity of gut and fight against pathogenic bacteria in the intestine. Currently, available prebiotics in the market are limited and some of them are digested in the proximal part of intestine. As a result, the demand for new prebiotic ingredients with improved functional properties is increasing tremendously. Pectin and pectic oligosaccharides (POS) are resistance to human digestive enzymes and are fermented by bacteria in the intestine and subsequently enhance the gut health. The present review describes about the various production, purification and functional characterization of pectin and pectin derived oligosaccharides from agro waste. Various current and futuristic functional properties of pectin and POS has been explained. This study will help the food processing industry to develop several plants derived futuristic functional food products.
Cyamopsis tetragonoloba type 1 metallothionein (CtMT1) gene is upregulated under drought stress and its protein product has an additional C-X-C motif and unique metal binding pattern
2018, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Citation Excerpt :
Guar gum is a commercial gum used in several industries. In addition, guar gum because of its medicinal uses is an important pharmaceutical product [18,19]. Guar being a legume is a nitrogen-fixing crop and is well known for its tolerance to stresses such as drought, heat and salinity.
Metallothioneins (MTs) are involved in cellular homeostasis of essential metal ions and detoxification of nonessential metal ions. We report here the identification of four MT genes, CtMT1, CtMT2, CtMT3 and CtMT4, encoding CtMT1, CtMT2, CtMT3 and CtMT4 proteins, respectively, from the industrial guar crop. The primary structures of last three proteins were similar to those of respective MT proteins of other plants but the CtMT1 protein primary structure was different from the other plant MT1 proteins in having an additional C-X-C motif. The four MT genes showed tissue specific expression patterns suggesting their specific roles in different tissues. High expression of CtMT1 gene was observed in roots and nodules whereas CtMT2 and CtMT3 genes showed high expression in leaves. The expression of CtMT4 gene was high in seeds. The qRT-PCR studies revealed upregulation in expression of CtMT1 gene under drought stress. Recombinant CtMT1 protein was produced in E. coli Rosetta cells and purified by metal affinity chromatography. The purified protein showed antioxidant property and the order of its metal ion binding affinities was Cu²⁺ > Zn²⁺ > Fe²⁺ > Cd²⁺. This information about CtMT1 protein is expected to be useful in understanding its role in drought tolerance and other physiological processes of guar.
Phytochemistry, Ethnomedicine, and Pharmacology of Acacia
2018, Studies in Natural Products Chemistry
Citation Excerpt :
Both extracts showed significant diuretic activity but A. nilotica was superior to A. sinuata [313]. Short-term fiber supplementation with a multicomponent herbal product containing Acacia gum produced modest to moderate reduction in total cholesterol and LDL levels in hypercholesteremic human volunteers [314,315]. In contrast, supplementing diet with fiber solely from Acacia gum did not show any significant changes in blood lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic subjects [316–318].
Acacia sensu lato is a large and widespread genus of the family Fabaceae with more than 1350 species. Taxonomically, this genus is complex and has undergone substantial controversial revisions recently. Acacia have been used as folk medicines for the treatment of a wide range of disorders including gastrointestinal, respiratory, eye, skin, teeth, blood, uterine, and endocrine problems. Gums (heteropolysaccharides) and condensed tannins (flavan-3-ol derivatives) are the most commonly reported constituents in Acacia. Pharmacological studies, at least in vitro, have demonstrated antioxidant, analgesic, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, anti-Alzheimer’s, and antimalarial effects of Acacia extracts. A number of secondary metabolites including phenols, alkaloids, and terpenoids, some with useful biological activities, have been reported in acacias. Very few species have been investigated for their phytochemical composition and biological activities. Hitherto, Acacia is largely an untapped resource of valuable secondary plant metabolites that have not gained enough scientific attention. This review aims to survey and critically appraise current literature on Acacia to provide sufficient baseline information for future work and potential commercial exploitation of Acacia.
Effects of diet supplementation with three soluble polysaccharides on serum lipid levels of hypercholesterolemic rats
2003, Food Chemistry
Some soluble polysaccharides have been explored as possible ingredients in the development of “functional foods” because of their ability to reduce plasma cholesterol and consequently contribute to the reduction of the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, this effect has been predominantly observed in studies using megadoses that are incompatible with the pattern of human consumption. On the basis of this limitation, the objective of the present study was to assess the hypocholesterolemic effect of the ingestion of three different hydrocolloids (guar gum, xanthan gum and pre-gelatinised cornstarch) at 1.5% concentration in an assay on rats. Cellulose was used as control. In the first stage of the experiment, all animals were fed a hypercholesterolemic diet that produced a mean concentration of total cholesterol (5.2 mmol/l) significantly higher than in the group fed a control diet (1.0 mmol/l). In the subsequent stage, 1.5% of the starch was replaced with each of the three hydrocolloids in the experimental ration. Food intake and body weight gain were not altered by the hydrocolloid diets (P<0.05). Serum cholesterol concentrations were 1.43, 1.41, 1.54 and 1.42 mmol/l for the diets containing guar gum, xanthan gum, pre-gelatinized cornstarch and cellulose, respectively. We conclude that, under the conditions of the present study, the hypocholesterolemic effect of hydrocolloid ingestion at a dose of 1.5% of the ration was not significant in comparison to the effect produced by the reduction and change of lipids in the diet. Thus, more attention should be paid to the use of hydrocolloids in functional foods, always considering the balance of the diet as a whole.
Guar gum for body weight reduction: Meta-analysis of randomized trials
2001, American Journal of Medicine
Citation Excerpt :
In 3% of the patients (11 cases) these were severe enough to necessitate the withdrawal from the trial. These findings are corroborated by other reports in the literature (55–57). In addition, possible drug interactions such as a potentiation of the effects of insulin and a decreased absorption of oral contraceptives have been suggested (58).
PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of the dietary fiber guar gum as a therapeutic option for reducing body weight by conducting a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
METHODS: Literature searches were performed on the electronic databases Medline, Embase, Biosis, Amed, and the Cochrane Library. Manufacturers of commercial guar gum preparations and experts on the subject were contacted to provide any published or unpublished trials. For inclusion, trials had to state that they were randomized, double blinded, and placebo controlled, used guar gum monopreparations, and reported body weight as an endpoint. No language restrictions were imposed. Two reviewers independently extracted data in a standardized manner according to predefined criteria and evaluated methodological quality using the scoring system developed by Jadad. Discrepancies were settled through discussion.
RESULTS: Thirty-four trials were identified and 20 could be included. Eleven trials provided data that were suitable for statistical pooling. The meta-analysis indicated a nonsignificant difference in patients receiving guar gum compared with patients receiving placebo (weighted mean difference −0.04 kg; 95% confidence interval (CI): −2.2 to 2.1). Analysis of six trials with similar methodologic features corroborates these findings (weighted mean difference −0.3 kg; 95% CI: −4.0 to 3.5). Adverse events most frequently reported were abdominal pain, flatulence, diarrhea, and cramps. Overall, 11 patients (3%) dropped out owing to adverse events.
CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis suggests that guar gum is not efficacious for reducing body weight. Considering the adverse events associated with its use, the risks of taking guar gum outweigh its benefits for this indication. Therefore, guar gum cannot be recommended as a treatment for lowering body weight.

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Human studyEfficacy of acacia, pectin, and guar gum-based fiber supplementation in the control of hypercholesterolemia

Abstract

Lancet

Am J Med

Vegetable, fruit, and cereal fiber intake and risk of coronary heart disease among men

JAMA

Human study
Efficacy of acacia, pectin, and guar gum-based fiber supplementation in the control of hypercholesterolemia