Effects of tarhana on serum lipid profile in high fat diet fed mice

Fermented foods and beverages have been an important part of the human diet throughout history. Various probiotic microorganisms (lactic acid bacteria, yeast), antioxidant compounds, antimicrobial compounds, dietary fiber and various bioactive components have beneficial effects on health. Tarhana is a traditional fermented Turkish food. In this study, the effects of tarhana on body weight, epididimal fat weight, lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL-c, LDL-c, triglyceride) and glucose levels in mice fed with high fat diet were investigated. BALB/c strain male mice were divided into three groups as control group (n=10), high-fat diet (HFD) (n=10) and tarhana+HFD (n=10). They were fed standard pellet feed for the control group, high-fat feed with 60% fat content in the HFD group, and the other group was fed HFD+0.3ml tarhana with oral gavage for 8 weeks. As a result of the experiment, no significant difference was found between the body weight gains of the groups (p> 0.05). A significant difference was found between the epididimal fat weights of the groups (p<0.05). It was observed that Tarhana+HFD group had lower of epididymal fat weight than HFD groups. A significant difference was found between the serum glucose values of the groups (p<0.05). The glucose value of the Tarhana+HFD group was significantly lower than the HFD group. There was a significant difference between the lipid profile of the groups (p<0.05). The most obvious difference between the groups in lipid profile results was observed in the total cholesterol level. The Tarhana+HFD group has a significantly lower total cholesterol level than the HFD group. As a result, it was concluded that the positive effects of tarhana on epididymal adipose tissue, serum lipid levels and serum glucose levels can be useful in many metabolic diseases, especially coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus, if tarhana is added to the diet.