Biological Studies on Quinoa and Spirulina on Anemic Rats

Document Type : Original research articles

Authors

1 Nutrition and Food Sciences Department, Faculty of Home Economics, Menofia University, Shebin Elkom, Egypt

2 Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Home Economics, Menoufia University.

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia is a common type of anemia in which blood lacks adequate healthy red blood cells. This study aimed to determine the effect of quinoa and spirulina on iron deficiency-induced anemia in mice. Five experimental groups were fed a diet supplemented with quinoa and spirulina at 2.5, 5, and 7.5% as a mixture for four weeks, versus the control rat group fed a basal diet free of iron. At the end of the experiment, rat groups fed herbs-supplemented diets had significant dose-related increases in serum iron; additionally, there were variable dose-dependent increases in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and ferritin levels compared to the control group. The healthy status of anemic rats was assessed by estimating plasma concentration of enzyme activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Urea, creatinine, and anemia parameters. Results showed an improvement in the above parameters at a 7.5% mixture followed by a 5% mixture of both quinoa and spirulina. So, the investigation suggested that incorporating quinoa and spirulina in daily diets would be an adequate food to prevent and treat anemia.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics