Sugar Composition of Water-soluble Dietary Fiber Prepared from Baobab (Adansonia digitata) Fruit Pulp, and Evaluation of Glucose Tolerance in Rats

Abstract

　In this study, soluble dietary fiber (SDF) prepared from baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruit pulp (BFP) was found to be composed of 82.9% acidic and 10.1% neutral sugar. When the methoxylated content of BFP-SDF was assayed, the proportion of methoxylated galacturonic acid was found to be 14.1%. The effect of BFP-SDF on the regulation of blood glucose level was examined in vitro and in vivo. BFP-SDF significantly reduced both glucose diffusion and permeation rates in cultured Caco-2cells. In oral glucose-tolerance tests conducted on Sprague-Dawley rats, compared to control rats administered 40% glucose solution, rats administered 40% glucose solution supplemented with 5% or 10% BFP-SDF showed significantly decreased postprandial blood glucose levels at 90 min and 120 min after administration. These results suggest that inclusion of BFP-SDF in the diet has a hypoglycemic effect in mammals, mainly due to a decrease in the diffusion of ingested glucose in the intestine.