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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Cereal Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #63081
Title: CHOLESTEROL REGULATION BY AMARANTH AND ITS OIL IN 6-WEEK-OLD FEMALE CHICKENS

Author
item QURESHI, ASAF - ADVANCED MEDICAL RESEARCH
item LEHMANN, JAMES - LEHMANN CROP SERVICES
item Peterson, David

Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/26/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Grain amaranths have been rediscovered as a healthful food, and research is being conducted to evaluate the nutritive characteristics of amaranths, measure differences among varieties, and determine the effects of processing. Because amaranth grain contains vitamin E, known to reduce cholesterol, this research was conducted to determine if consumption of grain amaranth affected cholesterol levels in chickens. Several varieties and the effects of processing were evaluated. We found that amaranth did indeed lower cholesterol in chickens, but processing partially attenuated the cholesterol-lowering effect. However, amaranth-containing diets had minimal effects on the levels of enzymes for cholesterol metabolism known to be affected by vitamin E. This result suggested that amaranth has other, unknown components that affect cholesterol levels. Amaranth deserves further study as a human food.

Technical Abstract: The effects of whole seed, popped, and milled amaranth and amaranth oil on cholesterogenesis was studied in 6-week-old female chickens (pullets). All amaranth varieties contained tocotrienols and tocopherols, compounds known to effect cholesterol metabolism. Total serum cholesterol (TSC) was reduced (10-30%) and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) was lowered (7-70%) in birds fed amaranth-containing diets. Whole seed, popped, and milled amaranth from one variety caused different levels of decreases (P<0.01) in TSC and LDLC. High-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLC) was minimally affected by amaranth supplementation. Activities of cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase, the liver enzyme responsible for cholesterol conversion to bile acids, were higher for birds fed most amaranth forms and oil than for the controls, whereas activities of liver beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase (the rate- limiting enzyme for cholesterol biosynthesis) were only slightly lowered by amaranth. This lack of significant inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase activity points towards the presence of some other potent cholesterol inhibitor(s) apart from tocotrienols in amaranth. Processed amaranth and its oil merit further study as sources of hypocholesterolemic agents for human diets and medicine.