Hungry Rice-based Biscuits: Effects on Some Biochemical Indices of Alloxan- induced Diabetic Adult Male Wistar Rats

Background: High costs of hypoglycemic drugs and their side effects have caused an increase in demand for the production of low glycemic plant foods and snacks from locally available nutrient dense crops for diabetes management. Hungry rice is known for its high fiber content and hypoglycemic properties. Objectives: The study investigated the effect of Hungry rice-based biscuits on some biochemical indices of alloxan-induced diabetic Wistar rats. Methods: Four groups of six adult male Wistar rats each with a mean weight of 164.59 g were fasted overnight and induced diabetes by a single intraperitoneal injection of alloxan at a dose of 150 mg/kg body weight and fed biscuits containing hungry rice/unripe plantain/cashew nut (80:10:10%), hungry rice/unripe-plantain (80:20%), hungry rice/cashew nut (80:20%) or wheat (100%) and water ad libitum for 21 days. The non-induced rats fed poultry growers’ mash serve as the control. The rats’ body weight and food intake were evaluated while the lipid profile, liver enzyme markers, and serum protein were assayed. Results: Hungry rice-based biscuits showed decreases in fasting blood glucose, AST, ALT, ALP, TC, TG, and LDL-C and increases in HDL-C and total serum protein of rats. ALP and serum protein were more in rats fed Wheat biscuit and 80% hungry rice-20% unripe plantain biscuit. The biscuit containing 20% cashew nut showed a better desirable effect on all the parameters tested. Conclusion: The hungry rice-based-biscuits exhibited hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potentials with desirable effect on liver biomarkers and serum proteins; and may be good for diabetes and weight management.