Toxicological and Nutraceutical Assessments of Peanut Sprouts As Daily Supplements to Feed Sprague

Toxicological and nutraceutical assessments of peanut sprouts as daily supplements to feed Sprague-Dawley rats for 18 weeks

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
Volume 88, Issue 12, Date: September 2008, Pages: 2201-2207

Bo-Si Lin ¹, Tu-Fa Lien ², Mao-Rong Chao ³, Tzu-Yuan Lai ¹, Ju-Chun Chang ¹, Shieh-Jen Chou ³, Hui-Fen Liao ⁴, Robin Y-Y Chiou ^{1 *}

¹Department of Food Science, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60083, Taiwan
²Department of Animal Science, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60083, Taiwan
³Department of Veterinary Medicine, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60083, Taiwan
⁴Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Chiayi University, Chiayi 60083, Taiwan

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Peanut sprouts are occasionally consumed by peanut farmers. To investigate the possibility of introducing peanut sprouts as a functional vegetable to the public, an in vivo experiment involving toxicological and nutraceutical assessments was conducted.

RESULTS: Sixty female Sprague-Dawley rats (8 weeks old) were fed with peanut sprouts as a dietary supplement for 18 weeks. The rats were divided into five groups and fed with different daily supplements, namely 0 g (control), 16.5, 10 or 6 g of sprouts or 2.4 g of kernels. Aflatoxin contents of the sprouts (n = 24) were less than 1 µg kg^-1. Body weights of all rats increased with feeding time, and final body weights differed insignificantly among test groups (P > 0.05). Weights of liver, kidney and spleen and organ/body weight ratios varied insignificantly among test groups (P > 0.05). All serum and blood cell determinations differed insignificantly (P > 0.05) among test groups, apart from the observation of a significant lowering of serum triacylglycerol (TG) level in the 10 g sprout group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: In general, no obvious growth hazard or health toxicity was detected. For nutraceutical development, the lowering of serum TG level achieved by appropriate intake of peanut sprouts is noteworthy.

Note from SproutNet:  High triacylglycerol (TG) levels are associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease.