NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT OF TRANSGENIC SWEETPOTATO ON BODY WEIGHT, LIPID, AND PROTEIN STATUS IN HAMSTERS

Abstract

The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the nutritional quality of genetically modified sweetpotato (genotype PI318846-3) on growth, lipid metabolism, and protein metabolism of hamsters. Three different diets made with transgenic and nontransgenic sweetpotato protein flour including a control diet with casein were fed to male Golden Syrian hamsters for 28 days. The protein efficiency ratio (1.35±0.01) of the transgenic sweetpotato protein diet was significantly higher (p<0.05) than the nontransgenic sweetpotato and control diets. Plasma albumin and plasma total protein concentrations of hamsters fed the sweetpotato diets were significantly lower (p<0.05) than that of the control. The casein diet (control) produced hypercholesterolemia in hamsters, whereas sweetpotato diets maintained lower plasma and liver total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in hamsters. Sweetpotatoes contain less amount of protein to maintain the normal animal growth; however, transgenic sweetpotato has good quality protein that supported the growth of hamsters better than nontransgenic sweetpotato.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to Dr. C.S. Prakash and Dr. M. Egnin (Department of Agriculture, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL) for providing transgenic and nontransgenic sweetpotatoes for this study.