Effects of Dietary Sake Cake on Cholesterol Metabolism in Rats

Sake cake prepared by the new sake brewing method using liquefied rice is far richer in protein than the one from the former method. Its nutritive value and hypocholesterolemic effect were examined. Growing rats were fed for 3 and 4 weeks on 33.3% sake cake diets with and without 0.5% cholesterol (0.15% sodium cholate). There was no significant difference in growth between the sake cake and casein groups. The serum and liver cholesterol levels in the sake cake group were significantly lower than those in the casein group. Sake cake feeding increased fecal excretion of bile salts, cholesterol, and lipid more as compared with casein feeding. A similar or greater effect was observed for the group given the pepsin undigested fraction of sake cake. (Received June 5, 1996) Key words; sake cake; rice protein; cholesterol; protein nutrition; hypocholesterolemic effect