Bio-transformed blueberry juice fights fat and diabetes

TORONTO - Juice of North American blueberries, bio-transformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit, looks promising as an anti-obesity and anti-diabetic agent.

Researchers from the Universities of Montral, de Moncton and Institut Armand-Frappier, tested the effects of the bio-transformed juices on mice as part of a study.

“Results of this study clearly show that bio-transformed blueberry juice has strong anti-obesity and anti-diabetic potential,” says study co-author Pierre S. Haddad, pharmacology professor at the University of Montral faculty of medicine (UMFM).

“Bio-transformed blueberry juice may represent a novel therapeutic agent, since it decreases hyperglycemia in diabetic mice and can protect young pre-diabetic mice from developing obesity and diabetes.”

The scientists tested the effect of bio-transformed blueberry juice on a group of mice prone to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and hypertension.

Incorporating such blueberry juice into the water of mice reduced their food intake and their body weight.

“These mice were an excellent model that closely resembles obesity and obesity-linked type 2 diabetes in humans,” says Haddad.

Biotransformation of the blueberry juice was achieved with a new strain of bacteria isolated from the blueberry flora, specifically called Serratia vaccinii, which increases the fruit’s anti-oxidant effects, says a UMFN release.

“The identification of the active compounds in biotransformed blueberry juice may result in the discovery of promising new anti-obesity and anti-diabetic molecules,” says Haddad.

These findings were published in the International Journal of Obesity.