Avocado Creole Peel Ameliorates Metabolic Alterations Caused by a High Sucrose Fat Diet in a Wistar Rats Model.

High-sucrose high-fat diets are one of the causes of malnutrition, and may induce metabolic alterations such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and adipogenesis. The objective of this work was to investigate the possible protective effect of traditionally edible avocado creole peel (Persea americana Mill var. drymifolia) when consuming a high-sucrose and fat diet (HSFD). The experimental animal model included 21 male Wistar rats divided in three groups: the control group received a standard diet of purina®, the HSFD group received a high fat diet plus 30% sucrose in drinking water, and finally the HSFD + AP group received the HSFD diet supplemented with 200 mg/kg of avocado peel for 14 weeks. It was observed that alterations included higher cholesterol, glucose, insulin, fatty acids and TNF-α levels as well as lower HDL, and adiponectin. The addition of avocado peel reverted some of these effects, resulting in normal values of triglicerides, insulin and adiponectin, while attenuated the levels of total cholesterol. Liver weight of the group added with avocado peel was similar to the control group. The neuronal density in the hippocampal areas CA1 and dentate gyrus DC were lower in the high glucose fat group, while the ingestion of the avocado peel showed a neuroprotective effect. The avocado creole ingestion reverted or attenuated most of the metabolic effects caused by a high-sucrose fat diet which was attributed to the compounds detected by HPLC-MS and GC-MS that included bioactive polyphenols such as flavanol quercetin, flavanone naringenin, flavan 3-ol catechin, cyanidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-glucoside, pelargonidin 3-rhamnoside, hydroxydelphinidin, eugenol and estragole.

Effect of Blackberry Juice Consumption by Pregnant Rats on Brain Length and Cell Density of Dentate Gyrus in Male Wistar Pups.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of blackberry juice consumption during pregnancy on the length of the brain, as well as on the cell density of the dentate gyrus in Wistar rat pups. Pregnant rats were divided into three groups: control (C), fed with standard diet and water ad libitum; BJ1, which received blackberry juice containing polyphenols (7.8 mg/kg) and anthocyanins (1.9 mg/kg); and BJ2, receiving blackberry juice containing polyphenols (9.3 mg/kg) and anthocyanins (3.54 mg/kg). On postnatal day 0, pups per litter, body weight, and length were measured, and cells in the dentate gyrus of male pups were quantified. Maternal body weight and pups per litter were statistically equal across experimental groups during pregnancy. Pups in BJ1 and BJ2 groups showed an increase in body weight (20%) and length (5%) when comparing to controls. An increase in brain length was observed in BJ2 group (8%) as compared to the control. A significant increase in the number of cells/mm2 was observed in the dentate gyrus of the offspring in BJ1 (21.8%) and BJ2 (23.7%) groups when compared to the control group. Given the above, blackberry juice may be considered a potential functional food during pregnancy, while further research on prenatal and postnatal development must be done.