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Inhibitory effect of bitter principle of palmyrah ( Borassus flabellifer L) fruit pulp on the growth of mice: evidence using bitter and non‐bitter fruit pulp
Author(s) -
Ariyasena D D,
Jansz E R,
Jayesekera S,
Abeysekara A M
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0010(20000915)80:12<1763::aid-jsfa705>3.0.co;2-t
Subject(s) - pulp (tooth) , chemistry , food science , cultivar , bitter taste , horticulture , botany , biology , taste , medicine , pathology
Different cultivars of palmyrah produce mature fruits of differently flavoured palmyrah fruit pulp (PFP). A natural ‘sweet’ (non‐bitter) variety exists. Bitter and naturally non‐bitter palmyrah fruit pulps showed little difference in total sugars (471 and 543 g kg −1 respectively), estimated by the Nelson method after invertase action, and had total crude flabelliferin contents of 1480 and 1650 mg kg −1 respectively. The flabelliferin profiles on silica gel G60 TLC plates developed using butanol; ethanol; NH 3 (7:2:5) differed. Bitter fruit pulp (from Jaffna) contained the bitter flabelliferin F‐II as the major component (about 900 mg per kg), while the non‐bitter fruit pulp (from Ampara) did not contain F‐II but contained the anti‐microbial flabelliferin, F B . Incorporation of non‐bitter PFP at the 100 g kg −1 level into WHO standard mice‐breeding feed resulted in significantly increased ( p = 0.00008) weight gain by ICR mice compared with bitter PFP incorporation at the same level in the feed. Weight gain was also significantly higher ( p = 0.021) than in the control (WHO standard mice‐breeding feed). The study supports the conclusion that the bitter principle, F‐II is responsible for reduced weight gain in mice. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry