Palm oil refining process produced palm fatty acid distillate (PFAD) as a by-product in deodorization stage. Saponification of PFAD produced unsaponifiable matter (USM) which was rich in vitamin E mainly tocotrienols, phytosterols, and squalene. This study evaluated the therapeutic effect of food products (instant noodle, bread, and biscuit) enriched with bioactive compounds from USM on the aorta of hypercholesterolemic rats. Rats were fed with atherogenic diet for 14 days to have blood total cholesterol ≥200 mg/dl. Rats then were fed according to each treatment group for 8 weeks. Total cholesterol, HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol, and LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol were analyzed at the end of experiment. Rats were then sacrificed and aorta abdominal was collected for histopathological study. The result showed total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol of rats fed by USM enriched food products were lower than that of corresponding products. Also, the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL and LDL cholesterol to HDL were better. Rats fed with USM enriched food products had a better aortic histopathological image than rats fed with non-enriched food products. Rats fed with USM enriched foods had less severe morphological lesions of the aortic wall with less foam cells in tunica intimae, less fat deposits in tunica media, elongated nuclei and organized myofibrils. This study indicated bioactive compounds in food products enriched with USM of PFAD offered good therapeutic effect against atherosclerosis development of hypercholesterolemic rats. USM enriched biscuit revealed the best therapeutic effect.
Key words: palm fatty acid distillate, atherosclerosis, enrichment, phytosterols, squalene, vitamin E
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