DEVELOPMENT, CHARACTERIZATION, AND THERAPEUTIC EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONAL COCOFEE GUMMIES FOR TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT IN WISTAR ALBINO RATS

Abstract

The present study was conducted to develop, characterize, and evaluate the therapeutic potential of functional Cocofee gummies for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The gummies were formulated and analyzed for their proximate composition, revealing that the gummies contained 28.2% moisture, 6.0% crude fat, 3.3% crude protein, 2.8% crude fiber, 2.5% ash, and 42.8% nitrogen-free extract (NFE). Phytochemical evaluation demonstrated appreciable bioactive potential with total phenolic content of 23.6 mg GAE/100 g and total flavonoid content of 4.7 mg CE/100 g. Antioxidant activity, determined by the DPPH radical-scavenging assay, was 21.48%. Color analysis showed L*, a*, and b* values of 29.2, 5.7, and 10.5, respectively, with C*, WI, and ΔE values of 26.23, 14.12, and 22. Sensory evaluation indicated good consumer acceptability, with appearance, texture, taste, aroma, and overall acceptability scores of 8.5, 7.8, 6.2, 4.2, and 5.7, respectively. For therapeutic efficacy, diabetes was induced in Wistar albino rats using alloxan, and animals were supplemented with low-dose (1 gummy per day) and high-dose (2 gummies per day) cocofee gummies for 30 days. The high-dose treatment group exhibited the greatest reduction in body weight (6.2%) and random blood glucose levels (11.0%) compared with the diabetic control group. The outcomes suggest that functional Cocofee gummies possess hypoglycemic effects which attributed to the synergistic action of coffee-derived bioactive compounds and dietary fiber from coconut husk that improve glucose metabolism, metabolic regulation, and antidiabetic properties.