Abstract
No biochemical analyses have been made to test whether the gum acacia molecule passes entirely undigested through the gastrointestinal tract. Observations on poorly controlled feeding experiments, cited in the older literature, 1 are reported to have shown that gum acacia, without other dietary supplement, is a deficient foodstuff. Since gum acacia is a rather important physiological tool, 1 any information concerning its chemistry or physiological properties is of some interest.
The question arose whether all of the sugar components of the molecule 2 are tightly bound into a “main” chain molecule, or whether some of them are possibly attached as “side” chains to the main molecule. In the latter case, they might be vulnerable to the digestive enzymes, and thus become materials available for glycogenesis.
Two groups of 15 young male rats (avg. wt. 140 g) were removed from a normal diet of dog mash, placed in individual cages, and fasted for 48 hours. Five individuals in each group were given 10 g of cacao butter, the remaining ten, 10 g of a mixture containing 34% of white powdered gum acacia (Arthur H. Thomas) and 66% of cacao butter. Tests for free reducing substances in the gum acacia were negative. At the end of 72 hours each rat was anesthetized with 0.5 cc of 10% sodium amytal administered intraperitoneally. The liver was immediately extirpated and placed in a tared 50 cc centrifuge tube containing 15 cc of 30% potassium hydroxide. Glycogen was obtained by means of Good's modification 3 of Pfluger's method. Glucose was determined upon an aliquot of the hydrolyzed glycogen according to the method of Shaffer and Hartman. 4
The livers of the 2 control groups contained an average of 0.15% and 0.13% glycogen by weight, respectively, while those of the acacia-fed groups contained an average of 0.24% and 0.17% glycogen by weight, respectively.
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