In vivodetermination of the caloric value of gum arabic in the male rat—biological data

Abstract

Sprague‐Dawley male rats were given normal diets (UAR A 03) containing various amounts of gum arabic, sucrose and lignin for eight consecutive weeks. The caloric values of the diets were derived by utilizing the indirect method comparing the slopes from food consumption and weight gain curves. While the data obtained from sucrose diets showed that these diets caused a clear incremental effect on energy production with respect to both test animals and controls, and data from lignin diets were found to produce a negative effect on energy yields, gum arabic diets produced results indicating that at certain levels of intake, gum arabic may contribute energy values slightly superior to those of lignin (0 cal‐g), possibly between zero and 1 cal/g. However, it was not found possible to attribute a clear‐cut quantitative caloric value to this additive from data obtained in this study.