Short-Term Consumption of Freeze-Thawed Microwaved Food Impaired Blood Electrolytes and Lipids In Female Rats

Background and Objective: Dual application of freezing and microwave heating is the most common form of food processing for food with a pleasant taste and texture in commercial and domestic settings. The effect of these processing methods on food was usually investigated in male laboratory animals, while such effects on female rats are sparse data. This study was poised to investigate the effects of various processing methods of foods on the cardiovascular risk and oxidative parameters in female Wistar rats. Materials and Methods: Four groups of female rats were employed in the study. Groups 1 to 4 were fed standard rat-chow (CG), freeze-thawed rat-chow (FT), microwaved rat-chow (MO) and freeze-microwaved rat-chow (FM), respectively, for 6 weeks. Results: The study showed that the plasma HDL-C was not altered (p>0.05) compared with the control group, however, the plasma cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C and VLDL-C of the rats fed the experimental rat chows were significantly elevated (p<0.05) than the CG group. In addition, the experimental foods altered the natremia and oxidative parameters, however, no significant (p>0.05) lipid oxidation was recorded. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that short-term consumption of freeze-microwaved food might not have a pronounced effect on oxidative parameters. However, freeze-microwaved food is safer than consumption of either freeze-thawed or microwaved foods, however, there is a need to investigate the long-term effect of this claim.