Influence of Diet Enriched with Cocoa Bean Extracts on Physiological Indices of Laboratory Rats

Cocoa bean is a rich source of polyphenols, mainly flavonoids which have a wide range of biological properties. The aim of the study was to determine the physiological indices of laboratory rats as a response to diets containing water extracts of raw or roasted cocoa beans of Forastero variety, as well as purified monomeric flavan-3-ols fraction isolated from them. The influence of these extracts on selected parameters was studied during 4 weeks feeding. The samples of rats feces were collected throughout the experiment and after its completion, biological samples (intestines content, blood, and organs) were retrieved individually from each rat and subjected to analyses. The observed changes in the gastrointestinal tract functioning indices and metabolism indicators, determined throughout the study and after its completion, confirm to some extent the biological activity of polyphenol extracts of cocoa beans. The differences in the results obtained for the analyzed parameters of the gastrointestinal tract revealed that the cocoa bean extracts differently affected the physicochemical properties of rats' intestines. The results indicate the beneficial effects of the applied nutrition treatment on the activity of cecal enzymes and the content of volatile fatty acids in the gut.