ABSTRACT
This paper reports a study regarding the verity of the hypocholestero-lemic effect of konjac-polysaccharide. The konnyaku powder (KP) used in this study was prepared and refined from the tubers of Amorphophallus ko-njac K. Koch and contained 84.8% of glucomannan. Male and female Spra-ue-Dawley rats aged 5 weeks were divided into 5 groups and fed on normal basal diet, hypercholesterolemic diet (control diet) and 3 test diets (i.e. KP was added to the control diet at a dosage of 2.5%, 5% or 10%) respe- ctively, for 12 weeks.The results obtained from this study showed that KP could markedly lower the level of the cholesterol in sera and livers of rats feeding hyper-cholesterolemic diets. At the end of the 4th week of the feeding experiment, the serum cholesterol level of the 5% and the 10% KP groups, and the liver cholesterol level of the 10% KP group were shown to be significantly lower than those of the control group. At the end of the 12th week, serum cholesterol levels of all the 3 KP groups were found to be lowered to the level of the normal group and so did the liver cholesterol level of the 10% KP group. The lipotropic (anticholesteatosis) effect of KP was also confirmed by the hepatic histopathological examination. Besides the hypocholest-eroletmic eftect, KP diets can also increase the bulk of stool. Finally, there were not any harmful effects on the absorption and utilization of Ca, Fe, Zn and Cu being found.