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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #355318
Research Project: Adding Value to Plant-Based Waste Materials through Development of Novel, Healthy Ingredients and Functional Foods

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Antiobesity effect of exopolysaccharides isolated from kefir grains

Author
item LIM, JUHA - Hanyang University
item KIM, DONG-HYEON - Konkuk University
item CHON, JUNG-WHAN - Konkuk University
item SEO, KUN-HO - Konkuk University
item Yokoyama, Wallace - Wally
item KIM, HYUNSOOK - Hanyang University

Submitted to: Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2017
Publication Date: 10/30/2017
Citation: Lim, J., Kim, D., Chon, J., Seo, K., Yokoyama, W.H., Kim, H. 2017. Antiobesity effect of exopolysaccharides isolated from kefir grains. Journal of Agriculture and Food Sciences. 65:10011-10019.

Interpretive Summary: Kefir, a fermented milk product, is fermented by yeast as well as lactic acid bacteria. We and others have shown that microorganisms from kefir reduces cholesterol and other signs of metabolic diseases. In this study the micro-organisms were killed by boiling the kefir. The bacteria produce large amounts of exopolysaccharide. The exopolysaccharide may interact with the host immunological system. When fed to mice, both the exopolysaccharide fraction and heat killed bacteria, had beneficial effects such as reduction in adipose weight and lowered cholesterol.

Technical Abstract: Physiological properties of water-soluble exopolysaccharides (EPS) and residues after EPS removal (Res) from the probiotic kefir were determined in high-fat (HF) diet-fed C57BL/6J mice. EPS solutions showed rheological properties and lower viscosity compared to those of ß-glucan (BG). EPS significantly suppressed the adipogenesis of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes in a dose-dependent manner. Mice were fed HF diets containing 5% EPS, 5% BG, 8% Res, or 5% microcrystalline cellulose (control) for 4 weeks. Compared with the control, EPS supplementation significantly reduced HF diet-induced body weight gain, adipose tissue weight, and plasma very-low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration (P < 0.05). Res and BG significantly reduced body weight gain; however, reduction in adipose tissue weight was not statistically significant, suggesting that the antiobesity effect of EPS occurs due to viscosity and an additional factor. EPS supplementation significantly enhanced abundance of Akkermansia spp. in feces. These data indicate that EPS shows significant antiobesity effects possibly via intestinal microbiota alterations.