Abstract:
Traditionally, in Sri Lanka, treacle prepared from Caryota urens L. (Kithul) sap has been
used as a sweetener for many centuries and it has been used in sweet foods, drinks,
confectionary and some medicinal preparations such as Arista. In recent studies we found
that C. urens treacle posses anti-oxidant and anti-hyperglycemic properties as claimed in
Sri Lankan ethanomedicine. Antioxidant and anti-hyperglycemic activities of natural
products have shown to correlate with serum lipid profile of animal models. Therefore, in
this study, we examined the effect of C.urens treacle on serum lipid profile using normal
rats.
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Two groups of adult male Wister rats were selected (8 rats/group) and one group was
supplied daily with a standard diet containing 56% sucrose (control) while the other group
was supplied with a standard diet containing 56% C.urens treacle (treatment) for 28
consecutive days. Rats were fasted overnight on day 1 and blood was collected from the
tail and serum separated. Total Cholesterol (TC), High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and
Triglyceride (TG) contents in serum were estimated using Randox test kits and Low
Density Lipoprotein (LDL) content was calculated using Friedewald equation.
Animals supplied with a diet containing treacle showed significantly (P<0.05) lower TG
(53.15± 3.62 mg/dl), LDL (20.12 ± 3.06 mg/dl) and athero index (0.50 ± 0.08) compared
to control (TG; 67.35 ± 5.45 mg/dl, LDL; 29.76 ± 3.05 mg/dl and athero index 1.05 ±
0.11). Further treacle diet showed significant (P<0.05) increase in good lipid parameters
such as HDL (65.36 ± 4.80 mg/dl) and HDL/TC ratio (67.56 ± 3.44 %) compared to
control (HDL; 43.96 ± 3.74 mg/ml and HDL/TC ratio 49.63 ± 2.51 %). However, total
cholesterol content in treacle diet (96.11 ± 2.84 mg/ml) and control diet groups (87.89
±4.13 mg/dl) did not significantly differ (P>0.05).
According to the results, it can be concluded that C. urens treacle has a significant
beneficial effect on serum lipid profile over white sugar (sucrose) as a sweetener
