[Anticancer effect of modified banana (Musa cavendish AAA) starch in rats with 1-2 dimethylhydrazine].

Resistant starch (RS) is not completely digested in the human intestine and it´s fermented in the colon, intestinal pH decreases, as short-chain fatty acids are produced. This being beneficial for health, preventing and treating rectal colon cancer. Pyrodextrinization and enzymatic hydrolysis are modifications to native starch (NS) and can increase the amount of RS.The objective of this project was to evaluate the effects of Musa cavendish AAA native and chemically and enzymatically modified starches on tumor markers in rats.Modifications (chemical and enzymatic) were made to M. cavendish NS, and were evaluated in rats with 1-2 DMH. Male Wistar rats (25 rats) were used, divided in five experimental groups: PC, NC, NS, PI, and ERM. During 4 weeks they received an experimental diet assigned to each group. The PC, NS, PI and ERM groups received 2 weekly s. c. (subcutaneous) injections of 1,2-DMH (40 mg/kg) (third and fourth week). In feces, pH, β-glucuronidase enzyme, and short-chain fatty acids were evaluated and histopathological study was performed in the intestine to detect microscopic lesions.The activity of β-glucuronidase decreased (p <0.05) for NS, PI and ERM vs PC. The highest proportion of butyric acid was observed in NS (p<0.05) vs NC. The 60 % of enteritis was severe grade in PC, and 40 % in experimental groups.Native starch granules resisted pyrodextrinization, but treatment with α-amylase broke the structure of the pyrodextrin granule. According to the treatments given to the rats, as the amount of RS present in the diet increases (NS), the neoplastic cells do not advance beyond the basement membrane, suggesting a possible protective cell or anticancer effect.