Evaluation of effect of dietary supplementation with Dacryodes edulis G.Don pulp oil on serum lipid parameters in Wistar albino rats.

The pulp of Dacryodes edulis G.Don which is rich in oils is commonly consumed in Nigeria when in season. The effect of diet supplementation with edulis fruit pulp oil on body lipid parameters was evaluated in male Wistar albino rats. D. edulis oil was extracted in n-hexane. The test diet was.compounded using the oil extract (10%), whereas the control animals were kept on control diet formulated with groundnut oil (10%). After six weeks, the animals were anaesthetized with chloroform and blood samples collected through cardiac puncture for the determination of serum lipid profile. Results revealed that D. edulis fruit pulp oil did not cause any significant (p > 0.05) alterations in serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triacylglycerol. The total amount of lipids present in the serum was increased by 33.3%, whereas the quantity of liver lipids decreased by the same factor (33.3%). Insignificant (p > 0.05) increases in the weights (g 100 g(-1) BW) of the liver (2.91 ± 0.17 to 3.38 ± 0.25), kidney (0.36 ± 0.06 to 0.40 ± 0.02) and heart (0.32 ± 0.02 to 0.33 ± 0.04) were observed in the test group. No significant change (p > 0.05) in the average body weight of the test animals was recorded. HPLC analysis of D. edulis oil showed that it contained palmitic acid (48.7%), linoleic acid (28.6%),oleic acid (12.9%), stearic acid (5.0%), lauric acid (2.2%), linolenic acid (1.7%) and myristic acid (0.9%). The peroxide value of the oil was 0.00. Prolonged intake of D. edulis fruit pulp oil may induce adverse effects on the body organs, even though the body lipid profile remains unaltered.