Background: Jerusalem artichoke [JA] is a rich source of dietary fiber. Previous reports showed that JA influence delayed gastric emptying by prolonging gastric emptying, resulting in extending satiety.This property may be beneficial for current lifestyle of the working women who need simple and convenient form of energy supply but provide the effect of weight controlling at the same time.

Objective: The present study aimed to label JA with 99mTc-pertechnetate and to evaluatethe effect of JA formulation in a snack bar (JASB) on gastric emptying and satiety in healthy female subjects.

Materials and Methods: JASB and control snack bar [CSB] were prepared by mixing JA syrup with SnCl2 0.1 mg for 15 minutes, and subsequently adding 99mTc-pertechnetate 1 mCi. The incubation time was 10 minutes at room temperature. The labeled 99mTc-JASB mixture were then put in a rectangular mold and baked in an oven at 180°C for 20 minutes. A randomized double-blinded crossover design study was conducted to evaluate the gastric emptying process in vivo. Thirty healthy female participants whose average age was 29.1+1.95 year were recruited for this study. The participants were instructed to consume JASB and then to stand in an upright position. For gastric emptying analysis, scintigraphic method was used. Sequential data acquisition was performed in upright 45 degree left anterior oblique (45° LAO) position for 4 hours. Participants were also asked to describe their satiety by making a vertical mark on 100-mm visual analogue scales [VAS] during data acquisition. This procedure was repeated for each subject but after consuming CSB.

Results: The 99mTc-Jerusalem artichoke was successfully labeled with radiochemical purity of more than 90%. The gastric emptying half time and percent gastric of JASB were significantly greater than CSB (p<0.05). The satiety at these intervals were also notably distinctive (p<0.05) between JASB and CSB. In JASB studies, the gastric emptying exhibited a strong positive correlation with satiety (R2 = 0.89, p<0.05).

Conclusion: JA plays a key part in delaying gastric emptying of consumed snack bar, resulting in prolonged subjects’ satiety.

Keywords: Jerusalem artichoke, Tc-99m, Gastric emptying, Satiety, Dietary fiber