Frank U. Eneh, Henrietta A. Ogbunugafor, Ifeanyi J. Ezeonwumelu and Chizoma I. Eneh
This study carried out a comparative evaluation of the effects of palm and Moringa oils as fat component in rat feed on weight, heamatology, platelets aggregation and lipids parameters. Adult male albino Wistar rats (18) were grouped into three groups of six rats each; one group served as baseline. The other two groups were fed formulated diet with 10% of either palm oil (PO) or Moringa oil (MO) as the fat component of the diet for 28days and weight was measured weekly. The haematological parameters, platelets aggregation, cholesterol and triacyglycerols levels were evaluated. There was an increase (p < 0.05) in the weight of the PO group. Haemoglobin (HGB), haematocrit (HCT), red blood cell count (RBC) and white blood cell count (WBC) was increased (p < 0.05) in both diets. However, the mean cell haemoglobin count (MCHC) and platelet count (PLT) were unchanged (p > 0.05). The platelet aggregation study showed no platelet aggregation in the three groups. There was an increase (p > 0.05) in the serum cholesterol and triacylglycerol in MO group, while in for the PO group triacylglycerols was elevated (p < 0.05) and serum cholesterol decreased (p >0.05). This study indicates that although palm oil and Moringa seed oil had comparable haematological effect, palm oil had higher values for erythropoetic parameters than moringa seed oil. The high value of WBC recorded for MO could be helpful in immuno-compromised conditions with prospects for cancer management
