الملخص الإنجليزي
The study evaluated the chemical composition, glycemic index and effect of feedingdifferent levels (0,10,15, and 20%) of black and white Omani halwa on blood glucoseand plasma lipid profile of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The glycemic index of halwa wasdetermined in 10 normal healthy human volunteers using pure glucose as a standardfood. Forty two male SD rats of about 4 weeks of age with an average body weight of75.5g were randomly divided into 7 groups containing 6 rats in each. Sevenexperimental diets in which the rat chow was replaced with either black or white Omanihalwa at 0,10,15, and 20% level were prepared and randomly allotted to each group.The group fed on rat chow only acted as control. The experiment lasted for 10 weeks.
Daily feed intake and weekly weight gains were recorded. No significant (P<0.05)differences were observed in the proximate chemical composition, energy content, andglycemic index of both types of Omani halwa. The moisture, crude protein, total fat, ash, crude fiber, and nitrogen free extract (NFE) contents (g/100g as such basis) rangedbetween11.8-12.1, 0.28-0.44, 12.4-13.8, 0.01-0.02, 0.05-0.15, and 74.0-75.0respectively. The energy values ranged between 413.4-421.3 kcal/100g. The GI valuefor black and white halwa were 52.0 and 54.8 respectively. No significant (P<0.05)differences were observed in the feed consumption and growth rate of rats fed differentlevels and types of halwa as compared to control diet. No significant differences were
observed in the blood glucose levels of rats fed different experimental diets ascompared to control group. The glycated hemoglobin (HbAlc) values however differedsignificantly (P < 0.05) and the rats fed diets containing 20% of halwa showedsignificantly (P<0.05) higher HbAlc values as compared to control group. Similarly therats fed diets containing 20% of halwa showed significantly (P<0.05) higher totalcholesterol (TC) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) values as compared to controlgroup. No significant (P<0.05) differences were however observed in triglyceride (TG),low density lipoprotein (LDL) and TC/HDL ratio of rats fed various experimental diets.The plasma creatinine levels differed significantly (P<0.05)whereas the plasma albumin levels did not differ (P<0.05) in rats fed various experimental diets.
