Aim. To investigate the ameliorating potentials of cocoyam (Colocasia esculenta L.) and unripe plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.) incorporated feeds on the renal and liver growths of diabetic rats, induced with 55 and 65 mg/kg body weight of Streptozotocin. Method. The blood glucose level of the rats was measured with a glucometer, the protein and glucose and specific gravity (SPGR) in the urine samples of the rats were measured using urine assay strips and urinometer respectively. The chemical composition and antioxidant screening of the test feeds were carried out using standard techniques. Results. Administration of the test feeds for 21 days to the diabetic rats of groups 4 and 5, resulted in 58.75% and 38.13% decreases in hyperglycemia and amelioration of their elevated urinary protein, glucose, SPGR, and relative kidney weights. The diabetic rats administered cocoyam incorporated feeds, had 2.71% and 19.52% increases in weight and growth rates, the diabetic rats administered unripe plantain incorporated feeds had 5.12% and 29.52% decreases in weight and growth rates while the diabetic control rats had 28.69%, 29.46%, 248.9% and 250.14% decreases in weights and growth rates. The cocoyam incorporated feeds contained higher antioxidants, minerals and phytochemicals except alkaloids than unripe plantain feed. Conclusion. Cocoyam and unripe plantain could be useful in the management of diabetic nephropathy.

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BackgroundThe effect of livingstone potato (Plectranthus esculenthus N.E.Br) on diabetes and its complications in Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats was investigated. The duration of the experiment was 4 weeks.MethodsThe blood glucose level of the rats was measured with a glucometer, the protein and glucose and specific gravity in the urine samples of the rats were measured using urine assay strips and urinometer respectively. The liver and kidney function parameters in the serum of the rats were determined using Biosystem Kits.ResultsThe diabetic rats given livingstonepotato incorporated feeds, had 129.7% decrease in their hyperglycemia with corresponding amelioration of their elevated urinary protein, sugars, specific gravity, renal growth, liver growth as well as 15.64% decrease in body weights compared with the nondiabetic rats that had 5.54% decrease in blood glucose and 20.39% increase in body weight unlike the diabetic control rats that had 18.34% decrease in blood glucose and 52.68% decrease in body weight. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the relative liver, pancreas, and kidney weights of the diabetic rats given livingstone potato feeds compared with the diabetic control while there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the relative heart weights of all the rats in the three different groups. In terms of liver and kidney function parameters, values obtained for the diabetic rats given livingstone potato incorporated feeds were not significantly different from that of the nondiabetic rats except for total bilurubin, aspartate transaminase, and creatinine (P>0.05) while they were significantly different from the values obtained for the diabetic control rats (P<0.05). In addition, the serum amylase of the diabetic control rats were significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the nondiabetic and diabetic rats treated with livingstone potato incorporated feeds.ConclusionResults show the antidiabetic actions of livingstone potato and its ability to ameliorate glomerular complication and liver hypertrophy in diabetics.

This study reported for the first time, the starch digestibility and predicted glycemic indices (pGIs) of the flours from raw and processed (boiled and fried) S. rotundifolius tubers following standard techniques. The flours contained considerable amounts of proteins and starch. The fried tubers had higher fat contents compared with the raw or boiled while the ash contents of the processed tubers did not differ significantly from the raw. The boiled tubers had lower digestible starch (DS) and rapidly digestible starch (RDS) but statistically same amounts of amylose compared with the raw or fried tubers; higher amounts of resistant starch (RS) compared with the raw, fried and white bread, respectively. While RDS and DS were positively correlated with the pGIs of the tubers, RS was negatively correlated and RS formation during processing was evident only in the boiled tubers. The study showed that the raw and processed tubers possessed intermediate glycemic indices. Practical applications There has been an upsurge in recent times on the interest in nutraceuticals, one of which reasons is attributed to their roles in arresting some metabolic disorders, one of which is type 2 diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes are often restrained to particular types of diets which results in their complaints of monotony of staying on a particular diet. S. rotundifolius tuber is one of such plants that have been found to possess nutraceutical potentials due to its nutritional and pharmacological properties as reported in several studies. However, the tuber is eaten after being processed and there is paucity of information in literature on the effect of processing on the digestibility of its starch. Therefore, the findings of this study which revealed that both the raw and processed S. rotundifolius tubers possessed intermediate glycemic indices indicate their usefulness as potential meals for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Objective: To determine the effect of unripe plantain (Musa paradisiaca) and ginger (Zingiber officinale) on blood glucose (BG), feed intake (FI) and weight of streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. Methods:Twenty four male albino rats were used and were divided into 4 groups of 6 rats each. Group 1 (non-diabetic) and Group 2 (diabetic) received standard rat feed; Group 3 received unripe plantain incorporated feed (810 /kg body weight) and Group 4 received unripe plantain+ginger incorporated feed (710:100 g/kg body weight). The weights and FI of the rats were measured daily throughout the experimentation.Results:Groups 3 and 4 rats had 159.52% and 71.83% decreases in BG but 24.91% and 35.32% decreases in weights compared with groups 1 and 2 rats that had 2.09% and 22.94% increases in BG with 13.42% increase and 45.36% decrease in weights respectively. The FI of the experimental rats did not differ significantly from each other (P>0.05) at the end of experimentation. The standard rat feed contained higher amounts of Ca but lower amounts of Mg and Fe compared with the unripe plantain and unripe plantain+ginger incorporated feeds. Conclusion:Combination of unripe plantain and ginger at the dose used in the management of diabetes was not very effective compared with unripe plantain alone.

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