Study on the Effect of L-arabinose Compound Sugar on Blood Glucose in Mice

Objective: To provide a theoretical basis for L-arabinose-sugar mixtures as low glycemic index foods, the effects of the mixtures on the blood glucose levels in C57BL/6N mice were investigated in this article. Method: Using pure glucose as the reference and metformin as the positive control respectively, L-arabinose-sugar mixtures were given to the mice by gavage. The blood glucose of mice was measured at 0, 15, 30, 60, and 120 min after dosage. The effects on the blood glucose level in mice for all the tested substances were evaluated with the increased area under the curve (IAUC), blood glucose peak, and glycemic index (GI). Result: Compared with glucose group, white sugar or brown sugar mixing with L-arabinose could both significantly reduce the IAUC(P<0.05) and blood glucose peak（P<0.05）. With the same content of available carbohydrate in white sugar, brown sugar contained significantly higher amount (P<0.05) of fat, protein, water, ash, potassium, magnesium, zinc, chromium, phosphorus, iodine, total polyphenols and total flavonoids. By adding the same percent of L-arabinose, the GI of white sugar mixtures in C57BL/6N mice was 52, and the GI of brown sugar mixtures in C57BL/6N mice was 42. Conclusion: The results showed that white sugar or brown sugar mixing with L-arabinose could effectively reduce the fluctuations in blood glucose levels. It revealed that chromium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, iodine, polyphenols and flavonoids in brown sugar might attenuate blood glucose levels.