EFFECT OF DATE PALM (Phoenix dactylifera) ON LIPID PROFILE IN EXPERIMENTAL RATS

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of date palm extract on the lipid profile parameters. Rats were divided into four groups, normal control (received water), group 1 treated with 1000mg/kg, group 2 with 2000mg/kg and group 3 with 3000mg/kg body weight of the extract for four weeks. The result of the study showed that the level of lipid profile parameters were not significantly (p>0.05) different between group 1 (1000mg/kg), group 2 (2000mg/kg) and group 3 (3000mg/kg) and the control. A non significance increase (p>0.05) is seen in High density lipoprotein (HDL) in rats of group 1 (1000mg/kg), group 2 (2000mg/kg) and group 3 (3000mg/kg) when compared with the control. Also, Low density lipoprotein (LDL) decreases non significantly in group 2 (2000mg/kg) and group 3 (3000mg/kg) when compared with the control. However, no significant changes were obtained in TC, VLDL and AI. The results suggest that dates have no significant effect on lipid profile. INTRODUCTION Dates are among the sweetest of fruits and up to 70% of their weight may be sugar. Dates have been cultivated for more than four thousand years in the dry, desert like regions of North Africa and Middle East. They provide an important source of carbohydrates (Janik et al., 1974). Date palm may well be the world’s oldest food producing plant. It is a member of the palm family, a group of trees with no branches topped by large crowns of leaves, each leaf form to 10 to 20 feet in length. It is a cousin of lilly orchids and grasses. The dates appreciates having its feet in the water and its head in the sun, therefore it thrive naturally in Oasis. These are typically dry, warm place of little rainfall but an adequate underground water supply (Hilda, 1987). The fruit is known as dates, the fruits English names as well as Latin species name dactylifera both came from the Greek word for “fingers” dacktulos, because of the fruits elongated shape. Dates are oval cylindrical, 3-7cm long and 2-3cm diameter and when unripe range from bright red to bright yellow in colour, depending on variety. Dates contain a single seed about 2-2.5cm long and 6-8mm thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist. Soft (e.g halaroy, barthee, khadarawy, madjool) Semi dry (e.g. dary: deglet noor) and Dry (e.g. thoory). The type of fruits depends on the glucose; fructose and sucrose content (AlShahib and Marshall, 2003). The whole plant contains carbohydrate, alkaloids steroids and tannins. The phenolic profile of the plant revealed the presence of mainly cinnamic acid, Flavonoids glycosides and flavonols. (mahran et al., 1976). Anthocyanins were detected only in fresh dates the TLC analysis also showed that the major carotenoid pigment present in date is lutein followed by a-carotene. Date contain at least six vitamins including small amount of vitamin B1 (thiamine,) B2 (riboflavin), nicotinic acid (niacin) and vitamin A. Enzyme such as phytase, invertase and perioxidase have been isolated in dates, other isolated chemical constituencies include a-D gulcan, heteroxylon and galac tomannans (mahran et al., 1976). MATERIALS AND METHOD Date Palm Date palm sample: the date palm that was made into crude powder used was obtained from fruits and vegetables market, Jagatpura jaipur. It was stored under room temperature. Albino Rats: Albino rats weighing 100-200kg were used for the study. They were obtained from Department of Biological Sciences. They were housed at the animal house, and were fed normal food. They were allowed to acclimatize for one week. Preparation of aqueous date palm extract At first, Dates fruits were washed from dust with tap water and then rinsed with distilled water and distributed in a clean bench and allowed to stand to dryness under shade. They were made into crude powder by grinding with mortar and pestle. Extraction was then performed by soaking 100g of the crude powder in 1 liter of distilled water. The mixture was left for 24 hours at room temperature. This was again filtered to obtain the filtrate. The filtrate was then subjected to evaporation at temperature of 45C in a drying cabinet. The residue was then weight (lorke, 1983). www.ijcrt. org © 2018 IJCRT | Volume 6, Issue 1 March 2018 | ISSN: 2320-2882 IJCRT1803273 International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt. org 1246 Experimental design: A total of 16 albino rats were used in this experiment. The animals were divided into four groups (including control). Four rats per each group. GROUP 1: This represent control group. The animal in this group received normal water. GROUP 2: The animals in this group were administered 1000mg/kg of the extracts. GROUP 3: The animals in this group were administered 2000mg/kg of the aqueous extracts. Group 4: The animals in this group were administered 3000mg/kg of the aqueous extracts COLLECTION OF BLOOD SAMPLE The animals were sacrificed on the 29 day. The blood sample were collected in a test-tube and allowed to stand for 10mins before centrifugation at 3000rpm. The serum was then obtained using Pasteur pipette into labeled dry clean bottles. BIOCHEMICALS ANALYSIS ESTIMATION OF SERUM TOTAL CHOLESTEROL Serum total cholesterol (TC) was quantified by enzymatic method using Randox Kit (Allantain et al., 1974). PRINCIPLE The cholesterol is determined after enzymatic hydrolysis and oxidation. The indicator quinoneimine is formed from Hydrogen peroxide and 4aminioantipyrine in the presence of phenol and peroxidase. The absorbance of the dye is measured spectrophotometriclaly at 500nm Cholesterol ester + H2O Cholesterol esterase Cholesterol + fatty acids Cholesterol + O2 Cholesterol esterase Cholestene – 3 – one + H2O2 2H2O2 + Phenol + 4 – aminoantipyrine Peroxidase Quinoneimine + 4H2O PROCEDURE Three test tubes were set up and labeled blank, test and standard as follows; Blank Test Standard Serum (μl) 10 Standard Cholesterol (μl) 10 Distilled Water (μl) 10 Reagent (μl) 100