Effect of Sunflower Wax Supplemented diet on Lipid Profiles in Albino Rats

Unrefined sunflower oil contains wax to an extent of up to 1%. The effect
of feeding sunflower wax at 0.1, 0.5, and 1% levels on the growth, serum and
liver lipid profiles was investigated in experimental rats.Weanling male albino
rats were fed American Institute of Nutrition-76 diet containing 0.0 (control),
0.1, 0.5 and 1.0% sunflower wax for 8 weeks. The food consumption of rats fed
on sunflower wax-containing diets was same as that of controls. The sunflower
wax in the diet had no effect on growth or organ weights of rats. There were
no differences in hematological parameters in animals fed wax-containing
diets compared to control animals. Histological observations of liver and
aorta showed no abnormalities. However, serum lipid analyses showed reductions
in total cholesterol by 21 and 22% in rats fed on 0.5 and 1.0% wax,
respectively, compared with that of rats fed control diets. There were marginal
reductions in liver cholesterol and phospholipid contents of rats given waxcontaining
diets.