Abstract
To examine the dietary effects of hijiki Hijikia fusiformis, aonori Enteromorpha sp., and nori Porphyra sp., which are traditional marine foodstuffs in Japan, on the levels of serum lipid and cecal microflora, diets containing 1% and 5% of these algae were administered to male rats for one week. All of the diets containing algae increased the weight of feces. The diets containing 5% algae increased the weight of cecum. Both the ingestion of 1% and 5% nori diet reduced the weight ofliver. Except the diet containing 1% hijiki, the test diets suppressed cecal ammonia, cecal free fatty acids (FFA), serum triglycerides (TG), and serum FFA. In the case of the diet containing 5% nori, the number of bifidobacteria and total viable counts in the cecum were markedly higher than those of the control diets. The diet containing 5% aonori suppressed the numbers of enterobacteriaceae and lactobacilli in the cecum and elevated cecal pH to a significantly high value of about 8. 6. These results indicate that hijiki, aonori, and nori, have similar effects on serum lipids and different effects on intestinal microflora and environment.
