Exploring the Nutritional and Therapeutic Effects of Gelatin-Based Functional Cocofee Gummies Against High Fat Diet-Induced Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Abstract

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), an umbrella term, a growing global epidemic with limited pharmacological interventions. The study aimed to develop and characterized a gelatin-based functional "Cocofee" gummies enriched with bioactive botanicals and evaluated its therapeutic potential against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced NAFLD in Wistar albino rats. Physicochemical profiling revealed a 57.84 ± 0.98% nitrogen-free extract, 27.28 ± 0.12% moisture, 5.90 ± 0.95% crude fat, 3.60 ± 0.05% crude protein, and 2.60 ± 0.18% ash. Phytochemical screening demonstrated high total phenolic content (24.1 mg GAE/100 g), total flavonoid content (4.9 mg ECE/100 g), and radical scavenging activity (22.06 mM TE/100 g). Major essential minerals, indicating high potassium (334.00 ± 8.71 mg/100 g), calcium, magnesium, and essential trace elements (iron, boron, and manganese). Colorimetric (CIE L* a* b*) and sensory evaluations (9-point hedonic scale) confirmed desirable visual appeal (L* = 28.9, a* = 5.8, b* = 11.01) and high overall acceptability (7.2 ± 0.4). In vivo trials, daily oral administration of Cocofee gummies to HFD-induced NAFLD rats over 30 days significantly (p < 0.05) mitigated body weight gain in a dose-dependent manner (3.7% reduction at 10 g/day). Crucially, high-dose gummy supplementation exerted strong hepatoprotective effects by reducing alanine aminotransferase (ALT) by 20.6% and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) by 14.5%. Overall, these findings showed cocofee gummies as a novel, highly palatable, and bioactive rich nutraceutical delivery system capable of attenuating hepatic dysfunction associated with NAFLD.