Pasta supplemented with isolated lupin protein fractions reduces body weight gain and food intake of rats and decreases plasma glucose concentration upon glucose overload trial

The supplementation of foods with biologically active compounds can be a powerful approach for improving diet and well being. In this study we separately included -conglutin, a glucose-lowering protein from Lupinus albus seeds, the remnant main lupin storage proteins and ovalbumin into pasta matrices and fed rats made hyperglycaemic with these products for 3 weeks. Among the most relevant changes measured in body and blood parameters were: i. a significant limitation in the body weight increase, concomitant with a reduction of food intake of rats fed lupin proteins, while the food conversion indexes were unchanged; ii. a reduction of glycaemia upon glucose overload trial, specially in the -conglutin supplemented-pasta fed animals at a dose of 45 mg/kg body weight. The correlations among the measured parameters are discussed. Overall, the results evidence the potentiality of supplementing traditional foods with exogenous nutraceutical seed proteins to control body weight gain and glycaemia.