• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.430-435
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• 2009

The effects of turmeric and fermented turmeric by Bacillus natto on antioxidant activities, liver function recovery of acute hepatotoxicity mice, and serum lipid parameters in high fat diet fed mice were investigated. In the results of antioxidant activity by DPPH method, fermented turmeric had higher antioxidative activity than turmeric. Acute hepatotoxicity was induced by 0.5 mL of carbon tetrachloride ($CCl_4$) per kg of mice. Unlike turmeric, fermented turmeric significantly reduced the levels of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) after 5 days compared to the controls with 0.5% methyl cellulose (p<0.05). In addition, higher recovery of liver damage by $CCl_4$ was observed in mice with fermented turmeric than with turmeric. High fat (20%) diet fed mice were divided into 4 groups to investigate the effects of turmeric and fermented turmeric on serum lipid parameters: C (vehicle), TuL (low dose (80 mg/kg) with turmeric), TuH (high dose (160 mg/kg) with turmeric), FTuL (low dose with fermented turmeric), and FTuH (high dose with fermented turmeric). The levels of LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol were significantly reduced and increased in FTuL, FTuH and TuH groups compared to the C group, respectively. However, there was no significant change in triglyceride levels by either turmeric or fermented turmeric compared to those by control. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that fermented turmeric by Bacillus natto could be used as a functional food for enhancement of health with better consumer acceptance.