Effect of feeding synbiotic products on the serum cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and non- HDL cholesterol level of albino rats

Abstract

Considering the excellent bio-therapeutic benefits of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, this study exploited the probiotic characteristics of Lactobacillus acidophilus-015, Lactobacillus casei-297 and Bifidobacterium bifidum-229 strains with natural prebiotic substances viz. banana powder, malto-dextrin and honey to produce synbiotic food formulations and to study the effect of feeding their on the cholesterol level (mg/dl) of albino rats. On the basis of the preliminary investigation, synbiotic products with 2% banana powder, with 2% malto-dextrin, with 3% honey and synbiotic product with 2% each of, banana powder and malto-dextrin and 1% of honey were selected for the investigation of the total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol. The products showed a significant decrease in total cholesterol level, however the control group receiving the cholesterol rich laboratory diet showed a significant increase (P LESS THEN 0.01) in the total cholesterol after 45 days of feeding. There was 25.81 to 45.05% reduction of serum cholesterol was observed in case of feeding synbiotic formulations. Increase in the HDL-cholesterol and decrease in the non-HDL cholesterol were also significant. Therefore, synbiotic formulation with all these three natural prebiotic have enhanced ability to decreased down the blood cholesterol level.