Food & Nutrition

Arab Journal of Food & Nutrition
102. The Effect of Traditional Jordanian Food (Falafel) on Lipid Peroxidation
and Liver Function in the Rat (2008)
Mohammad Akram A1-Khatib\ Jordan University of Science & Technology
Supervisor: Dr. Sana Janakat
Frying is one of the most popular methods used for the preparation of foodstuff.
The consumption of deep-fried food has tremendously increased in the last decades.
The extreme conditions of heating in the presence of air can cause a number of
chemical reactions within the oil, including oxidation, hydrolysis and polymerization
of fatty acids, which form many degradation products and other newly chemical
products. These products have adverse nutritional effects and potential hazards to
human health.
In this study, the effect of falafel on liver functions and lipid peroxidation was
evaluated in the rat. Short-term consumption of falafel extracts and falafel frying oil
did not cause any significant differences in the liver function parameters and gross
morphology of the liver. Whereas, long term consumption of falafel patties for 30 days
caused significant increase in three liver functions parameters namely; alanine
aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin level. Moreover,
long term effect of falafel patties consumption on liver gross morphology;
demonstrated by yellow discoloration and necrosis; was comparable to the effect of the
potent hepatotoxin CC14. Furthermore, long-term consumption of falafel patties
caused a significant increase in liver weight to body weight ratio when compared to
the intoxicated group.
The effect of falafel frying oil and falafel patties extracts collected from twenty
randomly selected restaurants from the city of Irbid on lipid peroxidation was assessed
using rat liver homogenate FeC12/ascorbate model. Frying oil caused a huge
significant increase in lipid peroxidation which was higher than that induced by
FeCI2/ascorbate mixture. Moreover, falafel patties extract caused LPO inhibition in
most cases.
These results suggest that the consumption large amounts of falafel for a long
period of time might increase the risk of oxidative stress leading to LPO and
consequently to many degenerative diseases
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