Food gap expresses an increase in consumption over the rate of
production, which may lead the concerned country to import
food from abroad. On the other hand, coinciding with the
nutritional gap is the exacerbation of chemically synthesized
therapies or drugs. Therefore, the present study was carried out
in a trial to open up new horizons for the use of gum arabic
(GA) in some food processing and therapeutic applications. For
food processing application, mixing of wheat flour with Arabic
gum at level 4% improved the properties of the dough
(farinograph and extensograph parameters), which will reflect
positively on the properties of the resulting bread. For
therapeutic applications, intervention with GA at levels 2 to 4%
are able to prevent or inhibit liver injuries induced by
ubiquitous chemical toxin i.e. B(a)P. GA exhibit liver injuries
inhibiting effects probably by improving the liver functions,
modulating regulators of drug metabolizing enzymes
(cytochrome P450) and glutathione fractions (Reduced, GSH, and oxidized, GSSG, glutathione) as well as inhibiting the
lipid peroxidation parameter (malonaldehyde content, MDA) in
liver cells. In conclusion, data of the present study
recommended that GA by a concentration up to 4% (w/w) to be
included in our daily dishes, beverages and pharmaceutical
formulae.
Keywords: Chemical composition, farinograph, extensograph,
benzo(a)pyrene, glutathione, cytochrome p450, malonaldehyde |
