Effects of Water-soluble Dietary Fiber Prepared from Corn Hull on Lipid Metabolism in Rats.

Abstract

Water-soluble dietary fiber was prepared by alkali extraction from corn hull, a by-product of corn starch manufacturing. The fiber was shown to be composed mainly of arabinose and xylose. Four-week-old male Wistar rats were fed experimental diets containing 5% cellulose or soluble dietary fiber. A fiber-free diet was used as a control diet. There were no differences in food intake or body weight gain among the three dietary groups. The soluble-fiber diet lowered the serum cholesterol concentration compared with both the fiber-free and cellulose diets in both groups fed cholesterol-free and cholesterol-containing diets. Hepatic total lipid and cholesterol contents were lowered only in the group fed the atherogenic diet. These results show that water-soluble fiber from corn hull has excellent characteristics as a dietary fiber.