Comparative Effect of Garden Egg Fruit, Oat and Apple on Serum Lipid Profile in Rats Fed a High Cholesterol Diet

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effect of Solanum melongena (garden egg plant), apple and oat on serum lipid profile of rats fed a hypercholesterolemic diet. One hundred rats were grouped into five groups of 20 animals each; one group was fed with grower`s marsh alone and acted as the sham control. One group was fed grower`s marsh and 3% cholesterol and served as the test control. The other three groups were fed with the grower`s marsh, 3% cholesterol and either of 4% apple, oat, or garden egg plant for a period of one month. After 2 weeks, half of the animals in each group were sacrificed for mid-term studies. The results obtained indicate that garden egg plant significantly (P<0.05) reduced weight gain of rats and feed efficiency compared with the other supplementations. Garden egg plant significantly (P<0.05) reduced serum total cholesterol, triglyceride and increased serum HDL-cholesterol compared with oat and apple in both the mid-term and full-term studies. The study suggests that garden egg plant has a more hypolipidemic effect than apple and oat.