Hypocholesterolemia and growth-depression in chicks fed guar gum and konjac mannan.

Two mannans (guar gum and konjac mannan) were fed to growing chicks at a level of 2% in a semipurified diet containing 0.5% cholesterol for 4 weeks. The mannans were nearly identical in producing growth depression, pancreatic hypertrophy and reduction in plasma and hepatic cholesterol when compared to controls fed corn starch or the sugars D-galactose or D-mannose. Hepatic triglyceride levels were higher for chicks fed konjac mannan, but no significant differences in fasting plasma glucose were observed. Apparent metabolizable energy levels for the mannan diets were significantly less than those of the other diets. The effects of the mannans in this study were not correlated with viscosity measurements made in vitro.