Effects Of Food Tannin And Saponin On Diet Selection And Physiological Indices Of Mice

We tested the effects of food tannin and saponin on diet selection of mice by using natural seeds and artificial food with different amount of tannin or saponin. We also aimed to investigate which role feeding experiences play in diet selection. This study was divided into three parts:(1)effects of food experiences on diet selection of mice; (2)effects of food tannin and saponin on food intake of mice; (3) effects of food tannin and saponin on physiological indices of mice. The results showed that:(1) Regardless of feeding experiences, adult and weaning mice all preferred to consume more seeds with lower tannin (i.e. Castanea henryi) or saponin (i.e. Arachis hypogaea) over those with high tannin (i.e. Quercus variabilis) or saponin (i.e. Camelia oleifera); Further, use artificial food to obtain consistent results:adult and weaning mice all preferred to consume more food with lower tannin or saponin over those with high tannin or saponin. So we test mice are born with the ability to choose. Feeding experiences for mice could enhance their ability to identify the tannin or saponin levels in seeds;(2) There were no significant difference between the low tannin and saponin levels, but very significant difference between the high tannin and saponin levels. food intake of mice significantly decreased with the increase of food tannin or saponin level. Our study indicates that food tannin or saponin can highly influence food selection by animals and feeding experiences can promote the animals to identify and use different food, which is good for their survival and reproduction.(3)Body weight of mice which fed tannin and saponin significantly decreased, as well as dry matter digestibility and nitrogen digestibility of mice which fed tannin significantly reduced.AST, TG, BUN, CK, SCR, TBIL, DBIL of blood were significantly different. ALT, AST, ALP and SCR concentration increased successively from the control group, tannin group, saponin group and mixed group. BUN, CK, TBIL and DBIL concentration is the highest in the saponin group. This study show the tannin and saponin can really damage the animal's liver and kidney function and lead to weight loss, resulting in the loss of endogenous nitrogen and even death.