Background: The physical fatigue can disturb the quality of work outcome and quality of life. However, the pharmacological therapy against this condition has not yet satisfied the requirement of people Therefore,the anti-fatigue regimen which is cheap, safe, less toxic and easy to approach is required. Based on the role of oxidative stress on the contractile dysfunction of muscle, the antifatigue effect of sugarcane pomace which possesses antioxidant effect has gained attention. However, no evidence concerning this issue is available. 

Objective: To determine the anti-fatigue effect and the possible mechanism of the extract of sugarcane bagasse.

Material and Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, vehicle, sugarcane bagasse extract 50,150,450 mg.kg^-1BW. Rats in all groups except those in control group were treated with the assigned substance once daily via oral route for 28 days. Exhaustive swimming time was assessed every 7 days.  At the end of study, gastrocnemius, soleus and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) were isolated and determined oxidative stress markers and the muscle fiber density and diameter.

Results: All doses of extract used in this study showed anti-fatigue effect. The possible mechanism might depend on the dose of extract. Low and medium doses exerted the effect via the alteration of muscle morphology in gastrocnemius and soleus respectively whereas high dose of extract showed the effect mainly via the decreased oxidative stress in soleus muscle.

Conclusion: Sugarcane bagasse extract has the potential to be developed as an anti-fatigue active ingredient in health products. However, further studies are required to elucidate the precise underlying mechanism and the possible active ingredients.

Key words: Sugarcane bagasse, anti-fatigue, oxidative stress, muscle morphology