Dietary Dried Sweetspire Powder Reduces Body Fat Accumulation in Rats

Abstract

Rare sugars are monosaccharides that are rarely found in nature. The anti-obesity effect of the rare sugar ᴅ-allulose has already been clarified by many studies. Sweetspire (Itea) contains a large amount of the rare sugars ᴅ-allulose and allitol. However, no previous studies have examined the functionality of sweetspire itself. In the present study, we examined the effect of dietary dried sweetspire powder on body fat accumulation in rats. Sixteen male Wistar rats (3-week-old) were fed a control diet or a diet containing 5％ dried sweetspire powder for eight weeks ad libitum. Weight gain, food intake, and food efficiency did not differ between the groups. Carcass fat weight and total body fat weight were significantly lower in rats fed the sweetspire diet than in those fed the control diet. These results suggest that dried sweetspire has an anti-obesity effect similar to ᴅ-allulose in rats.