Physical and biological evaluation of biscuits made using oils from borage, linseed and sesame seeds as sources of omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids

Oil was extracted from crushed borage seeds. linseed and sesame seeds. The oil extracted from these seeds was rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids [PUFA] as revealed by GC-mass spectra and was used to replace the palm oil at 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels in biscuit formula. Physical and sensory evaluation of biscuits revealed that these oils could substitute the palm oil up to 50% level without any significant difference compared with the control. When hypercholestrolemic rats were fed diets containing gama linolenic acid [18 : 3 n-6] of borage oil; alpha-linolenic acid [18 : 3 n-3] of linseed oil or linoleic acid [18 : 2 n-6] of sesame oil, it was found that borage oil followed by linseed oil were effective for lowering the cholesterol as compared to sesame oil. The feeding experiment of diabetic rats on diets containing these oils revealed that such oil caused a slight increase in plasma glucose level. Among the diabetic rats fed diets supplemented with these three oils, the group fed diets containing borage oil exhibited less extensive alopecia and dry scaly skin as compared to the other groups fed diets supplemented with linseed or sesame seed oils. These three oils were tested for any cytotoxic activity against the human tumour cell lines [breast caricnoma cell line, MCF 7 and cervix carcinoma cell line, Hela]. The results showed that only borage oil was proven to have some cytotoxic activity against the two studied human tumour cell lines. It could reduce the survival of both MCF 7 and Hela to 50% at concentration of 7.32 micro g/ml and 7.38 micro g/ml, respectively

Accumulation of cadmium in rats fed diets containing dietary fiber-rich bakery product

Cadmium is a potentially toxic trace element. The use of fertilizers and pesticides has led to an increase of cadmium level in soil. This might increase the intake of cadmium into agricultural crops. On the other hand, wheat bran and carrots are recommended as important sources of dietary fiber. In this study flat bread was prepared by replacing 50% of the flour with wheat bran. Biscuit was also prepared using 15% of the flour as carrot powder. The contents of cadmium were found to be 0.45, 0.57, 0.12 and 0.098 mg/kg in wheat bran, carrot powder, flat bread and biscuit, respectively. Phytic acid, dietary fiber and minerals [zinc, iron, calcium and cupper] contents of bran, carrot powder as well as flat bread and biscuit as bakery products were also determined. The accumulation of cadmium in the liver, kidneys, brain and plasma of rats fed diets containing the previous products for 9 weeks was measured. The results revealed a higher accumulation of cadmium in the case of the animals fed diets containing carrot powder than those fed diets containing wheat bran. The concentrations of inositol phosphate fractions [IP[3], IP[4], IP[5] and IP[6]] were also determined using HPLC method