Biological Activity of α-Galactoside Preparations from Lupinus angustifolius L. and Pisum sativum L. Seeds

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 384 - 389
• Main Authors: Gulewicz, Piotr, Szymaniec, Stanisław, Bubak, Barbara, Frias, Juana, Vidal-Valverde, Concepcion, Trojanowska, Krystyna, Gulewicz, Krzysztof
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 16.01.2002
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Fabaceae - chemistry; Galactosides - metabolism; Galactosides - toxicity; General pharmacology; Lethal Dose 50; Medical sciences; Mice; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Seeds - chemistry; Rat; Growth; Toxicity; Cytotoxicity; Lupinus angustifolius; Actinomycetales; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Bacteria; Laboratory animal; Colon; Bifidobacterium; Actinomycetaceae; Rodentia; Delayed hypersensitivity; Coliforms; Biological activity; Prebiotics; Grain legume; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Leguminosae; Health food; Pisum sativum; Actinomycetes; Spermatophyta; Fodder crop
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf010973y

Biological activity tests were performed on α-galactoside preparations obtained from Lupinus angustifolius L. cv. Mirela (alkaloid-rich) and Pisum sativum L. cv. Opal seeds. The studies included the following tests:  acute toxicity, cytotoxic test, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH), plaque-forming cell number (IgM-PFC), and influence on the growth of bifidobacteia and coliform presence in rat colon. Results of these studies showed that α-galactosides from lupin and pea seeds were essentially nontoxic. Their acute toxicity (LD50) in mice was >4000 mg kg-1 of body weight. α-Galactoside preparations were not cytotoxic for mouse thymocytes in vitro. The in vitro test shows that oligosaccharides from lupin and pea are utilized by selected beneficial colon bacterium strains. The in vivo experiment demonstrated that α-galactosides from legume significantly influenced the growth of bifidobacteria in rats colon. Simultaneously, the decrease of the coliform presence was observed. The chemical composition of the tested preparations had no significant effect on their biological activity. Keywords: α-Galactosides; lupin; pea; toxicity; immunotropic activity; bifidobacteria