Fig wine, fig fruits and fig leaf improve lipid profile and suppress body weight gain in rats fed high‐fat diet

Figs ( Ficus carica L.) have been used as a digestion promoter and a cure for ulcerative inflammation and eruption in Korea. The aim of this study was to investigate the hypolipidemic effects of fermented fig wine (FW), fig fruits (FF), fig leaf (FL) and supplement in rats fed high‐fat diet. Five groups of male Sprague‐Dawely rats during 6 weeks were fed different diet: normal control (N) diet, high–fat (HF) diet, high–fat (HF) diet supplemented with powdered FW, FF and FL. The supplementation of FW, FF and FL significantly lowered the concentrations of plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride and LDL‐cholesterol, compared to the other two groups. HDL‐cholesterol was significantly higher in the FW, FF and FL groups than in the HF group. In plus, contents of fecal cholesterol was significantly higher in the FW, FF and FL groups than in the HF group. These results suggest that supplementation of powdered FW, FF and FL enhance the excretion of fecal lipids, resulting in improving plasma and hepatic lipid profile in high‐fat fed rats.