Purpose The objective of this study was to evaluate whether
pectin feeding would affect the small intestinal function and whether these changes would lead to
obesity prevention in rats fed with high-fat diet. Three groups of weaned male rats (ad lib. fed; rats fed with diet containing 15% w/w of
citrus pectin; restrictedly pair-fed rats) were fed with either a standard diet (9.5% fat) or a high-fat diet (30% fat) for 10 days. Results Our results revealed that
pectin feeding led to significant decreases in
body weight, energy intake and fat pad weight in rats fed with the standard as well as high-fat diet. Moreover, compared to the restrictedly pair-fed rats, in both groups of rats fed with the diet containing
pectin, significant decrease in duodenal
alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity was observed in histochemically stained cryostat sections. In contrast, despite their lower energy intake, restrictedly pair-fed rats showed similar fat pad deposition accompanied by unchanged values of AP activity in comparison to the controls. Conclusions Our findings indicate that daily
pectin consumption could be beneficial in suppressing
body weight gain and reducing probability of
obesity risk in rats fed with a high-fat diet.