Comparative Functional Potential Of Some Plant Materials In India

Soluble dietary fibers are known to play an important role in maintaining health. These may have prebiotic activity and additionally their basic physico-chemical properties may contribute to their multifunctional health potential. Present study was planned with 30 plant materials grouped as fruits, vegetables, and other tuber crops using gum acacia as standard, being a known dietary fiber having prebiotic potential. The materials were studied for water holding capacity, cholesterol and bile salt binding activity, a-amylase inhibition and trypsin inhibition activity. Fifteen plant materials showed cholesterol binding capacity significantly higher than gum acacia by 0.7 to 86 %. Nineteen plant materials were found to have bile salt binding capacity (27-99 %) higher than gum acacia (24 %). Water holding capacity was observed in the range of 2.71 to 35.4 g/g dry material for all the materials, while gum acacia had the least value of 0.82 g/g dry weight. Sixteen materials showed a-amylase inhibition in the range of 9.99-95.0 % as compared to 9.65 % of gum acacia. Trypsin inhibition activity showed in the range of 49-98 %. This is the first report of multifunctional activities of plant materials with prebiotic potential. The results may help to develop prebiotic formulations having multifunctional potential for treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.