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Antihyperlipidemic and Antioxidant Activities of Edible Tunisian Ficus carica L. Fruits in High Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemic Rats

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Abstract

The phenolic constituents of the aqueous-ethanolic extract of Tunisian Ficus carica (F. carica) fruit (FE) and its antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities in high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats (HFD) were evaluated. The obtained results demonstrated that the FE improved the lipid profile by decreasing the total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. It also reduced the content of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and increased the antioxidant enzymes in liver, heart and kidney in HFD-fed rats. These antihyperlipidemic effects and in vivo antioxidative effects correlated with the in vitro phenolic content scavenging ability. Thus, the major phenolic compounds were identified using reversed-phase ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-UHPLC) coupled with two detection systems: diode-array detection (DAD) and quadrupole time-of-flight (QTOF) mass spectrometry (MS). Therefore, in the negative ionization mode, 28 phenolic compounds, including hydroxybenzoic acids, hydroxycinnamic acids, flavanoids and hydroxycoumarins were characterized. Dihydroxybenzoic acid di-pentoside, the flavonol quercetin 3-O-rutinoside and the flavone assigned as apigenin 8-C-glucoside were the main representative compounds in ‘Tounsi’ fruits. This work was complemented by the detection of seven other phenolic compounds in the positive ionization mode, including anthocyanins and furanocoumarins. Overall, these results have shown that the FE has a significant hypocholesterolemic effect and antioxidant activity in HFD-fed rats. This beneficial effect may be partly due to these phenolic constituents, especially vitexin, dihydroxybenzoic acid di-pentoside as well as rutin.

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Abbreviations

CAT:

Catalase

DAD:

Diode array detection

HFD:

High fat-diet

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

MS:

Mass spectrometry

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TBARS:

Thiobarbituric acid reacting substances

TC:

Total cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

UHPLC−MS/MS:

Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité de recherche DGRST 12-ES/17, Laboratoire de Biochimie, Faculté de Médecine de Sfax, Sfax, Tunisie

    Olfa Belguith-Hadriche, Mouna Turki & Fatma Makni-Ayedi

  2. Laboratoire d’Ecophysiologie Animale Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Sfax, Tunisie

    Olfa Belguith-Hadriche & Abdelfattah El Feki

  3. Laboratoire d’Electrochimie et Environnement, Ecole national d’ingénieur de Sfax, Université de Sfax, BP 1177, Sfax, Tunisie

    Sonda Ammar & Mohamed Bouaziz

  4. Research and Development Functional Food Centre (CIDAF), Bioregión Building, Health Science Technological Park, Avenida del Conocimiento s/n, 18016, Granada, Spain

    Sonda Ammar, Maria del Mar Contreras & Antonio Segura-Carretero

Authors
  1. Olfa Belguith-Hadriche
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  2. Sonda Ammar
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  3. Maria del Mar Contreras
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  4. Mouna Turki
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  5. Antonio Segura-Carretero
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  6. Abdelfattah El Feki
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  7. Fatma Makni-Ayedi
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  8. Mohamed Bouaziz
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Olfa Belguith-Hadriche or Mohamed Bouaziz.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors: Olfa Belguith-Hadriche, Sonda Ammar, María del Mar Contreras, Mouna Turki, Antonio Segura-Carretero, Abdelfattah El Feki, Fatma Makni-Ayedi, Mohamed Bouaziz declared no Conflict of Interest

All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed.

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Belguith-Hadriche, O., Ammar, S., Contreras, M.d. et al. Antihyperlipidemic and Antioxidant Activities of Edible Tunisian Ficus carica L. Fruits in High Fat Diet-Induced Hyperlipidemic Rats. Plant Foods Hum Nutr 71, 183–189 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-016-0541-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11130-016-0541-x

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