Determination of the Effect of Gum Arabic on Body Weight and Some Biochemical Parameters on Albino Wistar Rat

This experiment studied the effect of different concentration of Gum Arabic as a supplementary diet and its effect on lipid profile, glucose level and some enzyme activity on Albino rats. Sixteen Albino rats of nine (9) weeks of age were divided into four (4) groups; each group had four (4) rats. Three (3) groups were feed with oral dose of Gum Arabic at different concentrations (200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, 600 mg/kg) for two (2) week and the other was used as the control. The study revealed that in serum, there was a significance at p<0.05. The significant decrease was represented in percentages for different concentration respectively as follows: Total cholesterol (7.47%, 16.16%, 35.95%), triglyceride (4.95%, 7.69%, 15.93%), High Density Lipid (HDL) (60%, 22.85%, 14.28%) as well as Low density lipid (LDL) (0%, 22.70%, 27.56%) when compared with the control, it also showed a significant result at p <0.05 for glucose level of normal rats and a reduction in body weight of the albino rats when the final body weight was compared with the initial due to the high fiber content of Gum Arabic. Gum Arabic as supplement in the diet should be done because it is rich in highly soluble fiber.