Chicory Bests Rutin on Metabolic Disturbances

OLSZTYN, PolandA chicory seed extract rich in caffeoylquinic acids (CQA) proved potentially more efficacious in improving diet-induced metabolic disturbances than did rutin, according to research from the Polish Academy of Sciences. Their findings were published online ahead of print Oct. 18 in Nutrition.

Researchers conducted a 28-day experiment in 32 young, male Wistar rats, focusing on the effects of a high-fructose diet supplemented with either rutin, a phenolic compound with well-recognized bioavailability and bioactivity, or a chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) seed extract rich in CQAs on gut physiology and the development of disorders related to metabolic syndrome. The control group was fed a starch diet, while the experimental group (group E) rats were fed a diet featuring increased cholesterol and fructose (to 1 percent and 66 percent of the diet, respectively), as well as oxidized soybean oil. In two other groups fed the same group E diet, one was enriched with rutin, and the other was supplemented with the cchiory extract (9.6-percent CQAs), with each group receiving the same amount of added phenolic compounds (0.15 percent).

The group E diet caused hyperglycemia and increased blood serum atherogenicity in rats, but did not induce other manifestations of the metabolic syndrome (i.e., dyslipidemia and oxidative stress).  It did, however, affect gut physiology, increasing mucosal sucrase activity and disturbing fermentative processes in the cecumthe production of short-chain fatty acids and the activity of microbial enzymes. Adding either rutin or chicory extract to the diet appeared to improve glycemia, comparable to controls, however the chicory extract also decreased the atherogenic index to the level observed in controls and increased blood antioxidant status. Both dietary supplements reduced the content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances in kidney and heart tissue when compared with group E.