Safety evaluation of Long‐term Feeding of D‐psicose‐carrier‐complex for Rats

Abstract

It is known that intake of D‐psicose induces the decrease of body fat accumulation, the decline in serum glucose level, and the elevation of serum insulin level. The availability of rare sugars, however, is limited due to the low digestion ratio and the different way of disposition from glucose. In this study, we attempted to elevate the blood threshold level of rare sugars by means of drug‐delivery techniques. In order to apply for functional foods, we chose several kinds of safe, easily available, inexpensive carriers, and prepared the complexes of these carriers with rare sugars. We assessed the effects of chronic feeding of the D‐psicose‐carrier‐complexes for rats to obtain the basic data on the safety of the D‐psicose‐carrier‐complexes as nutritional substrates. Rats were fed diets containing 0.4 % complex for 9 weeks. No difference was found between the control group and the complex‐fed groups in body weight gain, food efficiency, and most serum chemical levels. These results suggest that the D‐psicose‐carrier‐complexes have no dietary toxicity for rats.