Multigrain porridge possesses superior nutritional quality, its consumption alleviates hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and oxidative stress in obese‐diabetic wistar rats

Abstract

There is an increased utilization of wholegrain cereals in food formulations considering their richness in essential nutritional and biological properties. In this study, each component (amaranth, acha and pearl millet) of the multigrain blend was individually pre‐fermented. Thereafter, the pre‐fermented grain flours were optimized to obtain two unique blends (90:5:5 and 47.98: 26.68:25.34) containing high protein content (~23% and 17%) and low glycemic index (~43). The optimum blends were processed into instant porridges (PR1, PR2) and analyzed for its nutritional composition, blood glucose lowering ability, antioxidant enzyme and tissue/serum biochemical makers modulatory ability in obese‐diabetic animals. The porridge showed significant nutritional profile, consumption of formulated multigrain porridge reduced blood glucose level (by 62% and 66%), upregulated the antioxidant defense system to near normal levels likewise, significantly reduced serum biochemical parameters. Thus, suggests that the multigrain blends/porridge is nutrient‐dense possessing beneficial effect to maintain antioxidant levels in the diabetic condition with potential to attenuate oxidative damage. Practical applications Prolonged feeding with high‐fat diet induces hypercholesterolemia in experimental animals. Further interperitoneal injection of streptozotocin induces experimental diabetes with a cascade of oxidative stress related complications in serum and tissue parameters. Porridge is a traditional meal while multigrain porridge is a nutrient dense meal which may exert curative effect. In this work, it was shown that dietary intervention with multigrain porridge product promoted positive weight control, portrayed hepatoprotective effect as shown by the elevated levels of biomarker (ALT, AST, ALP) and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, GPx) as well as modulation of serum lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein‐cholesterol). Thus, the multigrain porridge may be a functional food product to combat hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia especially PR1 which appeared to be more efficient than PR2 in modulating oxidative stress, conferring hypoglycemic effect and lowering lipid levels in obese‐diabetic rats model studied.

Effect of multigrain porridge on postprandial glucose level in diabetic individuals

“…Consumption of an adequate number of whole grains is related to lower chances of obesity. Moreover, it reduces weight gain by improving serum lipid and glucose concentrations as described in previous studies 15 . Many recent human studies conducted on whole grains revealed that increased consumption of whole grains help to lower cholesterol level.…”

“…The experimental subjects were provided with multigrain porridges each day for breakfast. At the initiation, 0 days before the start of the trial, the blood sample was taken for evaluating the postprandial glucose level of each patient and same procedure was followed for 15 th and 30 th day 15 . The aforementioned parameters were examined;…”

Industrial interests and requirements for improvement of pearl millet, a gluten-free and climate-smart underutilized cereal

“…Pearl millet was used to produce multigrain porridge with superior nutritional quality; its consumption alleviates hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and oxidative stress in obese-diabetic Wistar Rats (Olagunju 2022). Other study outlined the potential of pearl millet proteins as source for bioactive hydrolysates with improved anti-diabetic, antilipidemic, and anti-oxidant activities with potential as functional food ingredient (Mudgil et al 2023).…”