Effect of Carrageenans on Vegetable Jelly in Humans with Hypercholesterolemia

Abstract

Changes in lipid profile constitute the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Algae extracted carrageenans are long-chain polysaccharides and their ability to form gels provides for the formation of vegetable jelly. The objective was to evaluate the bioactive potential of carrageenan (E407) in the lipid profile, after ingestion of jelly. A total of 30 volunteers of both sexes, aged 20–64 years and with total cholesterol (TC) values ≥200 mg/dL, who ingested 100 mL/day of jelly for 60 days, were studied. All had two venous blood collections: before starting the jelly intake and after 60 days. At both times, TC, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG), were evaluated using commercial kits and spectrophotometer. The statistics were performed using the SPSS 25.0 software and p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Serum values after 60 days of jelly intake revealed a statistically significant decrease in TC levels (5.3%; p = 0.001) and LDL-C concentration (5.4%; p = 0.048) in females. The daily intake of vegetable jelly for 60 days showed a reduction in serum TC and LDL-C levels in women, allowing us to conclude that carrageenan has bioactive potential in reducing TC concentration.

Characterization of Bioactive Components in Edible Algae

“…As described by Valado and collaborators [18], changes in lipid profile constitute the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The daily intake of a vegetable jelly (with carrageenan E-407) for 60 days showed a reduction in serum total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in women, allowing them to conclude that carrageenan has bioactive potential in reducing TC concentrations [18].…”

The Evolution Road of Seaweed Aquaculture: Cultivation Technologies and the Industry 4.0

“…However, there are various seaweeds’ compounds commercially available, where the seaweeds’ polysaccharides represent a large portion of that market, used for various industries, such as food and pharmaceutical [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ]. The seaweed polysaccharides are considered dietary fibers, although assay with vegetal jelly (carrageenan) has proven to reduce cholesterol [ 69 , 70 ]. In the case of proteins, the research is ambiguous regarding the digestibility, due to the interaction of the proteins with other compounds [ 69 ].…”

Carrageenan: Drug Delivery Systems and Other Biomedical Applications

“…The results showed a statistically significant decrease in total cholesterol and HDL-C in both periods (30 and/or 60 days). Daily intake for 60 days also showed a reduction in serum levels of total cholesterol and LDL-C in women [ 87 ].…”