The company launched Teavigo, an extract of the predominant catechin in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), on the US market earlier this year, designed for addition to foods and beverages as well as for use in dietary supplements.
It has seen overwhelming interest from manufacturers, driven by the wealth of science issued in recent months demonstrating the health benefits of green tea, including anti-cancer activity and anti-inflammatory properties.
But DSM researchers reported at the Experimental Biology meeting last month that an animal study on Teavigo also supported previous findings showing that green tea can help weight loss.
Overweightness has increased at an alarming rate in recent years and has become one of the major health threats worldwide.
A mouse cell model was used to study the development of fat cells, a process called adipogenesis. When grown in the presence of insulin, a hormone that promotes fat cell formation, cells developed into fat cells with an accompanying massive lipid accumulation. Adding Teavigo to the cells significantly inhibited this process.
In addition, Teavigo also prevented the adipogenesis induced by TZD; a medication widely used for treating type 2 diabetes, said the researchers.
To further demonstrate the effect of Teavigo in preventing weight gain, wild-type mice were fed with a high-fat diet for five months. When compared to mice fed with a normal diet, the high-fat diet group gained more weight (14.8 per cent) and increased body-fat by 62 per cent.
When 1 per cent Teavigo was added to the high fat diet, the mice maintained the same weight as the normal-diet group, without any increase in body-fat, said the researchers.