PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF CUPCAKE PREPARED BY REPLACING FAT WITH DIFFERENT LEVELS OF BAKED SWEET POTATO ON OBESE RATS

Abstract

Nowadays, there is an increase interest in natural products as an alternative to replace fat in different food formulations to meet the nutritional demands of consumers. In this sense, the current study utilized baked sweet potato in different levels, due to its high nutritional value and health-promoting properties, to replace fat in the cupcake and produce healthy value-added product. The potential effects of reduced-fat cupcake containing baked sweet potato on obese rats were evaluated. The results indicated that body weight gain of obese rats fed reduced fat cupcake diets formulated with baked sweet potato was reduced by 43-63% compared to positive control rats. Also, the obese rats fed reduced fat cupcake diets at 40-80% baked sweet potato level for 30 days lead to restoring the normal organs weight of negative control rats. Feeding obese rats with reduced fat cupcake diets prepared with baked sweet potato reduced body weight gain, organs weight, TG, TC, LDL, blood glucose, liver enzymes, and creatinine compared to positive control rats. The non-significant (P>0.05) differences in organ weight, HDL, blood glucose, kidney functions, and liver functions were observed between reduced fat cupcake diets at 5% and 2.5% replacement level. While feeding rats with reduced fat cupcake diets at 5% showed lower (P≤0.05) TG, TC, and LDL and higher (P≤0.05) weight gain than reduced fat cupcake diets at 2.5%. The obtained results proved that baked sweet potato is a suitable natural product which might be incorporated in the production of the cupcake to improve obesity.