EN
Four cake recipes were prepared; using 0, 10, 20 and 30% replacement levels of wheat flour by doum fruit flour (DFF). The chemical, physical, organoleptic characteristics and biological quality of the prepared cakes were studied. Results indicated that there was a gradual enhancement in water absorption and mixing tolerance index with increasing DFF in the cakes. The flavour and general acceptability of cake containing 10 and 20% DFF were significantly higher. The cakes were fed to rats alone or plus cholesterol powder and cholic acid for 42 days, growth and plasma total lipids were evaluated. The data showed higher food intake and lower gain in body weight in rats fed on the cake supplemented with DFF than for the hypercholesterolemic (HC) group. The plasma total cholesterol and non-HDL-cholesterol levels for animal groups which were fed on cakes with DFF (10-30%) was significantly lower than the in the hypercholesterolemic (HC) group (p<0.05). The highest plasma HDL was found in rats consuming diets based on cake containing 30% DFF. The atherosclerotic index showed progressive decrease with the increase of DFF level in the cakes. It can be concluded that DFF could be useful for preparation of cakes for those suffering from hypocholesterolemia.