INFLUENCE OF PURE SIMMONDSIN ON THE FOOD-INTAKE IN RATS

The jojoba plant (Simmondsia chinensis) and more specifically jojoba meal contain a series of molecules considered to be toxic, with simmondsin [2-(cyanomethylene)-3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethoxycyclohexyl beta-D-glucoside] as the most important. Indeed, the extracted and purified simmondsin from jojoba meal caused a food intake reduction in our experiments in adult rats. Taste is apparently not involved because the same response was seen with intragastric intubation as with oral administration. The food intake reduction is probably due to an inhibition of hunger, rather than to an enhancement of satiation. Simmondsin provokes weight reduction probably by an inhibition of food intake because the same weight reduction is seen with simmondsin administration as in pairfed animals. The action of simmondsin is observed within the first hour after oral administration and lasts for several hours. Simmondsin treated with beta-glucosidase and taken into the gastrointestinal tract seems to be more active than simmondsin itself with respect to inhibition of food intake.