Nutritional value of germinated quinoa seeds and their protective effects on rats' health injected by nicotine

NICOTINE resulted from heavy smoking raises the risk of developing chronic liver diseases, hence hepatocellular carcinoma. Nicotine also encourages the proinflammatory cytokines production which would be involved in the injury of liver cell. This study was conducted to investigate nutritional components and protective effect of germinated quinoa seeds on rats' health that injected by nicotine. Thirty male albino adult rats (150±10 g.) were used. The rats divided into two main groups; one used as a negative control group fed on basal diet, while other groups used as a positive control group fed on basal diet also and three other rats subgroups fed on supplemented diet with germinated quinoa seeds at three concentrations (i.e. 5 %, 10% and 15%) for 4 weeks, then injected with nicotine subcutaneously for 15 days. Biological evaluation, lipid profile, liver enzymes, kidney functions, and antioxidant markers were estimated at the end of the experiment. The chemical composition of germinated quinoa seeds demonstrated that quinoa can be considered as a good source for dietary fiber, polyphenols and other antioxidant compounds which raised the nutritional value. The results indicated that kidney and liver functions were restored significantly in rats' groups received quinoa seeds 10%, followed by quinoa seeds 5 % as compared to the positive control group. The nicotine rats group showed a significant decrease in triglyceride, VLDL-C, and LDL-C; on the other hand, all supplemented groups with quinoa seeds 10%, followed by quinoa seeds 5 % showed a gradually significant increase in HDL-C. Serum total cholesterol and LDL-C were significantly increased in the positive control group, while they gradually significantly decreased in all supplemented diet groups demonstrated. Therefore, this study reveals the health benefits of quinoa seeds in functional foods for heart disease, hypercholesterolemia and patients with liver disease.