Extracts of common pulses demonstrate potent in vitro anti-adipogenic properties

Pulses are an important food source in many countries and also widely used as feed for livestock. Discovery of novel health benefits in pulses may contribute to improved diet and potential added value to crops. In this study, we examined the ability of extracts from faba bean, field pea and chickpea to inhibit the formation of fat droplets in an in vitro cell culture system that mimics the process of fat cell formation or adipogenesis. Both seed and hull extracts of all three pulses showed an inhibition of adipogenesis and the hull fraction and also contained higher levels of polyphenols compared with the seed extracts. At the molecular level, adipogenic inhibition was associated with a marked reduction in peroxisome proliferatoractivated receptor gamma (PPARG) gene expression. Furthermore, the field pea pulse extract was shown to inhibit pancreatic lipase activity at a similar level to the drug ‘orlistat’, which is commonly used to treat obesity