Dose effects of the food spice cardamom on aspects of hamster gut physiology

✍ Scribed by Ya-Ling Huang; Gow-Chin Yen; Fuu Sheu; Jin-Yuarn Lin; Chi-Fai Chau

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 207 KB
• Volume: 51
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1613-4125
• DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.200600249

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The dose effects of pectic polysaccharide‐rich extract from the food spice cardamom (Amomum villosum Lour.) on intestinal environment were investigated. The results showed that pectic polysaccharides and hemicellulose were the major polysaccharides in the cardamom extract. The administration of cardamom extract (0.5 and 1.5 g/100 g diet) effectively (p < 0.05) shortened hamster gastrointestinal transit time by ∼︁ 58%, increased fecal moisture contents (148–174%), increased SCFA concentrations in hindgut (4.0‐ to 7.8‐fold), decreased the activities of β‐D‐glucuronidase (by 71.4–85.7%), β‐D‐glucosidase (by 24.3–51.5%), mucinase (by 63.6–72.7%), and urease (by 88.8–90.4%) in feces, and reduced the production of toxic ammonia (by 16.1–64.5%). These findings suggested that the consumption of cardamom extract (at least 0.5 g/100 g diet or 40 mg/day) might exert a favorable effect on improving the gastrointestinal milieu, and also provide a clue to substantiate its traditional therapeutic uses and dosage for intestinal health improvement.