Red orange extract reduces fat body in Wistar rats that received high calorie diet

Obesity is a major challenge to global health and is prevalent in humans and pets. Considering the importance of this disease, this research was carried out for evaluating the influence of red orange (Citrus cinensis), on body biometrics in rats treated with high calorie diet. A total of 48 male Wistar rats, 21 days old, divided into four groups of 12 animals each, one group received only commercial diet (control), presenting energetic value of 3.8 Kcal/g, another high-calorie diet with energetic value 5.4 Kcal/g, the third, commercial diet and red orange, and the fourth, high calorie diet and the red orange. The dry extract of red orange was administered by gavage according to the animal weight at a dose of 0.07mg of the product/g of body weight per day. During 4 months, rats were weighed and measured for obtaining body weight, waist circumference and Lee index three times per week. At 90 and 160 days old, body composition that consisted in body fat percentage, lean mass and fat mass were done by DXA (duel-energy X-ray absorptiometry), Hologic(R), Discovery Wi. There were no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in anthropometric measures such as body weight, waist circumference and index Lee among groups. At 90 days old, rats treated with high calorie diet showed higher amount of body fat (27.70?7,17) compared to control (17.80?4,58) (p<0.05). Cumulative effect of red orange in the body composition was observed in rats with 160 days old. Animals treated with high calorie diet and red orange showed significant reduction in the percentage of fat (25.30%?5,60) compared to the group treated only with high calorie diet (32.08% ?8,00) to 160 days old. These results showed that combination of anthocyanins, hydroxycinnamic acids and vitamin C present in red orange was effective in reducing body fat of animals fed with a diet rich in carbohydrates, and fat. Furthermore, this study indicates that patients resistant in changing eating habits could benefit by prolonged use of red orange by reducing fat percentage after four month treatment with red orange.