Introduction:

diabetes research with peptides from foods has been conducted in animal experiments to be later applied to humans.

Objective:

the main purpose of this work was to evaluate in rats the hypoglycemic effect of a peptide fraction of chia seeds derived by enzymatic hydrolysis.

Materials and methods:

from chia flour a protein-rich fraction was obtained, which was hydrolyzed with pepsin-pancreatin system enzymes to yield a peptide fraction (> 10 kDa) by ultrafiltration. Five rat groups (one normoglycemic and four diabetized with alloxan) were used. A sucrose tolerance curve was performed, providing the disaccharide before measurement. Blood was taken from the tip of the tail at 0 (before sugar), 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes.

Results:

the protein content of chia flour was 49.51 %. The peptide fraction (> 10 kDa) had 91 % of protein. A dose of 50 mg/kg showed in rats a tendency to decrease blood glucose within the first hour, but no significance was found between the target and the doses evaluated. There was no decrease in glucose absorption vs. the reference drug. At 120 min postprandial, no differences were found between doses, water, and acarbose, showing a return to the baseline status. The tolerance curve in diabetic rats was opposite to that of acarbose, so there was no relationship between the drug's mechanism of action and this analyzed effect.

Conclusion:

the peptide fraction of chia of > 10 kDa showed no hypoglycemic effect at the single dose that was administered.

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