Okra and Jew's mellow mucilages as hypoglycemic agents

ABSTRACT

Adult male normal and diabetic rats were maintained on diets containing 1,2,3 or 4% mucilage extracted from okra pods and jew's mellow leaves. The blood samples were taken every two weeks for measuring glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triacylglycerols. At the end of experiment [6 weeks], the animals were sacrificed and hepatic glycogen contents were measured. The mucilages decreased plasma levels of glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-C and triacylglycerols, while HDL-C and hepatic glycogen were increased