Analysis of the effect of okra extract on the diversity of intestinal flora in diabetic rats based on 16S rRNA sequence
In 2019, the statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) show that the global okra production is about 9.95 million tons, and the trade volume is over 5 billion dollars (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2019). At present, it is widely grown in Africa and Asia, and its production share by region about 32.2% and 66.9%. Especially okra is grown on a large scale in the Fujian and Hainan provinces of China. Through the comprehensive utilization of okra, the problems that the fresh okra fruits are different to preserve and are easily aging and affect the fruit quality are solved (Tang et al., 2017; Weng et al., 2017). Previous studies have confirmed that okra pods are rich in mucus (biological polysaccharides, sugar polymers), flavonoids, and dietary fiber, which have the effect of regulating glucose and lipid metabolism, promoting bowel movement, and preventing constipation (Georgiadis et al., 2011; Wu et al., 2020; Yuan et al., 2019). Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common diseases caused by metabolic disorders in humans. According to the prediction of the World Health Organization (WHO) by 2030, the number of diabetes may be about 439 million (Shaw et al., 2010). Among them, approximately 10% of clinical diabetes patients are insulin-dependent diabetes (IDDM), that is, type 1 diabetes (T1DM) (Gero, 2010; Lee et al., 2010; O’Callaghan, 2017). Abnormal blood glucose metabolism and abnormal lipid metabolism usually occur together (Guo et al., 2019; Lv et al., 2019; Li et al., 2019). In recent years, the regulation of glucose and lipid metabolic disorders has become a focus of research (Hu et al., 2018). The young, old and second fruits (including pod and pedicle) of okra have low commercial value, but they are rich in water-soluble components such as biological polysaccharides. Therefore, using them as the raw material for hot water extraction, the okra aqueous extract was prepared. Based on the scientific analysis of the active ingredients of okra aqueous extract and the molecular weight distribution of polysaccharides, the quantitative evaluation of the efficacy of regulating the intestinal flora of diabetes was carried out, thereby expanding the application of okra in the field of functional food. To investigated the effect of okra aqueous extract on the diversity of intestinal flora in diabetic rats, the metagenomic DNA of cecum content of twelve rats was extracted, then the 16SrRNA V3-V4 region of the flora was sequenced by the latest IonS5TMXL SE400/ SE600 sequencing technology. Analysis of the effect of okra extract on the diversity of intestinal flora in diabetic rats based on 16S rRNA sequence