Background: This study represents the first report that the anti-obesity activity of ethanol extracts of Aronia melanocarpa can be enhanced through ultrasonification at a frequency of 120 ㎑ at 60℃ (UE).
Methods and Results: The amounts of cyanidin-3-O-galactose (cya-gal), a major anthocyanin in A. melanocarpa were higher by up to 402.4 ㎎/100 g, as compared with 221.4 ㎎/100 g and 322.1 ㎎/100 g, for hot water at 100℃ and 70% ethanol at 80℃ respectively. This result should cause the higher antioxidant activities of the UE than extract of hot water and ethanol in DPPH free radical scavenging. It was confirmed that the high antioxidant activity of UE could play an important role in inhibiting the production of proteins related to adipocyte differentiation, such as peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) and sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP1).
Conclusions: Ultrasonification at a frequency of 120 ㎑ at 60℃ should result in better anti-obesity activity than that observed using other processes. It was also observed for the first time that the anti-obesity activity of A. melanocarpa was associated with its antioxidant activity, possibly due to the higher elution of intact cya-gal, owing to efficient low temperature ultrasonification extraction. These results could also be applied to improve other biological activities of medicinal herbs that contain many types of heat-labile bioactive substances.