Studies with fruit and vegetables rich in dietary fber have shown lowering effects on the blood concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), acting preventively against hypercholesterolemia. The aim of this study was to analyze the chemical composition of cocona and evaluate the effect of the consumption of cocona four on lipemia of Wistar rats with hypercholesterolemia. Eight animals were used for each treatment, in 7 groups: control; 3 experimental groups with 5%, 25% and 50% of the recommended fber (AIN-93) from cocona four; 3 groups per feeding with pectin and cellulose as source of dietary fber, in the same proportions of the experimental groups. At the end of the assay, we verifed that there were not signifcant variations in the consumption of the animals and the body weight during the experiment. Treatments with cocna four were responsible for reducing the concentrations of total cholesterol (-21.6%), LDL-c (-56.8%), increasing the excretion of fecal cholesterol (+116%) and lowering the liver cholesterol (-32.1%). None of the treatments signifcantly altered the triglyceride concentrations. Treatments using pectin and cellulose show results similar to cocona. The observed results can be used in further studies aimed at the biotechnological exploitation of this fruit. © 2015, Instituto de Biociencias. All rights reserved.
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