Beneficial Effects of Broccoli (Brassica oleraceavaritalica) By-products in Diet-induced Obese Mice

Abstract

Obesity currently affects the whole world, with greater incidence in high-income countries, with vast economic and social costs. Broccoli harvest generates many by-products equally rich in bioactive compounds with potential anti-obesity effects. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-obesity effects of broccoli by-products flour (BF) in obese mice. A commercial high-fat diet formulation (representing a Western diet) was used to induce obesity in mice. BF (0.67% or 1.34% weight/weight) was incorporated as a chemoprevention compound into a control and a hypercholesterolemic diet, at two different concentrations, and fed for 14 weeks to C57BL/6J mice. For a therapeutic approach, two groups were fed with the hypercholesterolemic diet for 10 weeks, and then fed with BF-supplemented diets in the last 4 weeks of the study. BF supplementation helped to maintain a lower body weight, reduced adipose tissue accumulation, and enhanced the basal activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione S-transferase. Although BF supplementation tended to reduce the relative liver weight increased by the Western diet, the differences were not significant. BF appears to have a beneficial effect in preventing weight gain and fat accumulation induced by hypercholesterolemic diets.