Nutritional Evaluation on High Protein Supplement Diet by Biological Assay in Wistar Rat

Enteral nutrition is the best way to feed or supplement the diet when gastrointestinal tract functions of patients are partially or totally preserved. Whenever total enteral nutrition is needed, it represents the only source of nutrients for patients. Thus, it is mandatory to ensure that high biological value proteins are included in enteral formula.

Objective:To investigate the nutritional effectiveness of protein blend constituted intended to be used in enteral nutrition products.

Materials and Method:27 male Wistar rats, with initial body weight of 60±5 g, where divided into three groups and feed for 28 days with: Group A were fed ONS-ST, Group B were fed ONS-HP, and Group C were fed ONS-PF. Enteral diet was fed 30 g./day during 4 weeks and consumption was recorded every day. Observation on body weight and food consumption were determined during the Study. Growth study(PER and NPRR) and digestibility study (TD, BV and NPU) where calculated. Results: The obtained results for growth study and digestibility indicated that the supplement prepared with local food was a good protein source, especially when protein-mix was added.Experimental (Group B) and standard(Group A)had similar values for all analysed indices (PER, NPRR, TD, BV and NPU). These indices where also similar Group C, but lower than experimental and standard groups.

Conclusion:The nutritional effectiveness of ONS-HP versus ONS-ST when administered for 4 weeks to rats were compared. There were no differences between the ONS-HP group and ONS-ST group in body weight and nitrogen balance. Additionally, there were no adverse effects associated with administration of ONS-HP. These results suggest that ONS-HP is as nutritionally effective as ONS-ST, and as useful for nutritional management as conventional enteral nutrition formulas, even in a lower administration volume.