Influence of Dried Lemon, Ginger and Cumin in Weight Reduction and Some Biochemical Parameters in Rats Suffering from Obesity

Abstract

The present study was established to study the effect of dried lemon, ginger and cumin on the nutritional parameters, lipid parameters, serum glucose, and liver enzymes of rats suffering from obesity. Also this study performed to determine the content of lemon, ginger and cumin of phenolic and Flavones as a natural anti-oxidant, recently many experiments performed to assess the role of natural antioxidants in the treatment of obesity. The rats (n=30) were distributed into two main groups, the first main group (n=6 rats) fed on basal diet as a control negative group. The second main group (n=24 rats) received high fat diet for 6 weeks to induce obesity in rats. After these periods, the mean value of body weight gain% was estimated in the two main groups, also blood samples were collected from all rats to estimate the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, then the high fat diet groupwas divided into (4) subgroups (n=6 rats for each), the first subgroup fed on high fat diet as a control positive group. Subgroups 3, 4 and 5 and were fed on high fat diet supplemented with 200mg/kg of dried lemon, ginger and cumin, respectively. The results cleared that, addition of dried lemon, ginger and cumin, respectively to the high fat diet decreased the body weights, in addition to significant decrease in the mean values total lipids profile, serum glucose level, liver enzymes in all treated groups, compared to the positive control groups, while high-density lipoprotein (HDLc) increased. It was concluded that, the dried lemon showed the best effect on body weights, lipid profile, liver functions, and glucose level of obese rats fed on high fat diet. It could also be argued that dried lemon, ginger and cumin are rich in antioxidants such as phenols and Flavones which plays an important role in reducing the level of lipids profile, serum glucose, and liver enzymes and are considered natural anti-obesity.