Shan Wu^{1, 2}, Shuo Feng^{1, 2}, ZhaoHong Ci¹, Chengyu Jiang¹, Yang Cui¹, Yuki Sasaki¹, Yukina Ota¹, Michiyuki Kojima^1,

Here we examined the effects of consuming fermented buckwheat products in mice fed a high-fat diet. Buckwheat was fermented with soybeans (1:1) and rice koji for 6 months (miso). The total phenolic content and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl content of the buckwheat fermentation products (miso) increased with the time of fermentation. In the in vivo experiments, mice were fed for 5 weeks with a high-fat diet with or without supplementation using 10% buckwheat miso. Dietary supplementation with buckwheat miso significantly decreased the serum aspartate transaminase level and lipid peroxidation in the liver compared with the control group. Furthermore, the mice that received buckwheat miso showed significant decreases in their body weight and retroperitoneal and mesenteric fat weights and increased fecal lipid contents compared with the control group. These results indicate that dietary supplementation with buckwheat, which is characterized by a high antioxidant activity, has health benefits such as protection of the liver and suppression of increased body weight.

buckwheat, miso, high-fat diet, antioxidant, anti-obesity, total phenolic content