Abstract

The appetite center which controls food intake and energy expenditure has an important role in regulating body weight. For this reason, food components intake of that inhibit appetite center has an important place in treatment of obesity and regulation of appetite regulation. This review is intended to discuss the effect of saponin on appetite regulation. Saponin is a naturally-occurring surface-active glycoside produced by some bacteria and marine animals, mainly plants. It is known to have antiinflammatory, immunostimulant, hypocholesterolemic, hypoglycemic and anticancerogenic effects as well as protective effects against obesity. Glycone part is composed of glucose, galactose, rhamnose, glucoronic acid or xylose, and aglycone part is steroid or triterpenes called sapogenin. It is thought that provides appetite regulation by decreasing hypothalamic NPY expression and serum leptin level, so saponin has antiobesity effect. NPY constitutes an important regulator; it increases food intake and reduces dietary fat oxidation. In addition, saponin significantly suppresses the mRNA level of NPY, thereby reducing nutrient uptake and providing weight loss. It is especially important to include obesity in medical nutrition treatment due to the high saponin content of vegetable-derived foods such as legumes, spinach, beetroot, asparagus. However, there is insufficient evidence to support the clinical application of saponin in the treatment of obesity and appetite regulation. Therefore, this issue should be investigated by in vitro and randomized controlled human studies.