Saccharified and Fermented Helianthus tuberosus L. Beverage Attenuates High-Fat Diet-Inducible Metabolic Complications in C57BL/6 Mice

The prevalence of obesity has been recognized as a major public health issue with rapid increase globally. Obesity triggers other metabolic complications, such as diabetes, dyslipidemia, liver diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Helianthus tuberosus L. (the Jerusalem artichoke) is an important edible plant that may provide health benefits in treating metabolic diseases. In this study, we investigated potential antiobesity effects of saccharified H. tuberosus L. (SH) and its fermented vinegar (fermented H. tuberosus L. [FH]) in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity murine model. FH exhibited significantly lower pH, Brix, and total sugar content compared with the SH, along with higher radical-scavenging activity. The body weight and adipose tissue weights were significantly decreased with the administration of SH and FH compared with the HFD group. SH and FH groups significantly attenuated hepatomegaly and lipid accumulation. The increased triglyceride (TG) content in obese mice was remarkably lower in the SH and FH groups. SH and FH alleviated serum dyslipidemia and atherogenic risk. Furthermore, expression of adipogenic genes was significantly downregulated after SH and FH supplementation compared with the HFD group. The TG and total cholesterol (TC) content of serum and adipose tissues significantly decreased by SH and FH administration in comparison with the HFD group. Reduced adiposity with SH and FH administration was confirmed by reduced adipocyte size and weight with inhibition of lipoprotein lipase expression. Our study showed that SH and FH, indeed FH was superior to SH, had antiobesity effects by decreasing adiposity, regulating dyslipidemia in systemic tissues, and inhibiting adipogenic gene expression.