EFFECTS OF MARINE ALGAL DIETS HIJIKI, AONORI, AND NORI ON LEVELS OF SERUM-LIPID AND CECAL MICROFLORA IN RATS

To examine the dietary effects of hijiki Hijikia fusiformis, aonori En teromorpha sp., and nori Porphyra sp., which are traditional marine fo odstuffs in Japan, on the levels of serum lipid and cecal microflora, diets containing 1% and 5% of these algae were administered to male ra ts for one week. All of the diets containing algae increased the weigh t of feces. The diets containing 5% algae increased the weight of cecu m. Both the ingestion of 1% and 5% nori diet reduced the weight of liv er. Except the diet containing 1% hijiki, the test diets suppressed ce cal ammonia, cecal free fatty acids (FFA), serum triglycerides (TG), a nd serum FFA. In the case of the diet containing 5% nori, the number o f bifidobacteria and total viable counts in the cecum were markedly hi gher than those of the control diets. The diet containing 5% aonori su ppressed the numbers of enterobacteriaceae and lactobacilli in the cec um and elevated cecal pH to a significantly high value of about 8.6. T hese results indicate that hijiki, aonori, and nori, have similar effe cts on serum lipids and different effects on intestinal microflora and environment.