• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.103-108
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• 2010

To obtain the best yield of the beneficial ingredients in green tea, such as catechins, green tea powder is most often prepared by ethyl alcohol extraction. However, the taste, cost and composition of ethyl alcohol extract is different from aqueous spray-dried green tea extract (aq-GTE). Specifically, aq-GTE has a better flavor, lower production costs and higher purity when compared to ethyl alcohol extract. In this study, we elucidated the effect of aq-GTE on diet-induced obesity in male C57BL/6J mice following dose-dependent oral administration of aq-GTE. After eight weeks, the body weight was reduced by 13-17% in mice fed 200 mg/kg bw aq-GTE ($12.468{\pm}0.45\;g$; p<0.05) and 20-25% in mice fed 400 mg/kg bw aq-GTE ($11.259{\pm}0.61\;g$; p<0.05) when compared with the high-fat diet (HFD) control group mice ($14.714{\pm}0.95\;g$; p<0.05). The correlation between epididymal fat accumulation and body weight also decreased by approximately 26.6% (p<0.05) in mice fed a HFD with aq-GTE 400 mg/kg bw. Finally, serum parameters such as the triglyceride, glucose and cholesterol levels in the HFD groups were reduced by the aq-GTE 400 mg/kg bw diet. Analysis on glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, blood urea nitrogen and development of hepatic steatosis revealed no histologic evidence of hepatotoxicity in HFD mice fed aq-GTE. Overall, our results imply that aq-GTE is able to regulate body weight and fat accumulation in mice.