New vinegar produced by tomato suppresses adipocyte differentiation and fat accumulation in 3T3-L1 cells and obese rat model

There is an increasing surplus of tomatoes that are abandoned due to their failure to meet customer standards. Therefore, to allow both value additions and the effective reuse of surplus tomatoes, we developed tomato vinegar (TV) containing phytochemicals and evaluated its anti-obesity effects in vitro and in vivo. TV inhibited adipocyte differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocyte and lipid accumulation during differentiation. TV supplementation in rats fed a high-fat diet (HFD) markedly decreased visceral fat weights without changing the food and calories intakes. TV significantly decreased hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol levels compared to the HFD group. Furthermore, TV lowered plasma LDL-cholesterol level and antherogenic index compared to the HFD group, whereas elevated HDL-cholesterol to total cholesterol ratio. These results show that TV prevented obesity by suppressing visceral fat and lipid accumulation in adipocyte and obese rats, and suggest that TV can be used as an anti-obesity therapeutic agent or functional food.