Abstract: In order to explore the anti-alcoholic, hepatoprotective, weight-reducing and hypolipidemic effects of Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar, 20 mice were divided randomly into 2 groups: model and treatment groups, which were given 0.15 mL of 52% aqueous alcohol solution 30 min after daily intragastric administration of normal saline and the fruit vinegar at the dose of 0.1 mL, respectively. After 30 days of administration, the mice were killed and their livers were collected and prepared into 10% homogenate for the determination of the contents of GSH and MDA and ADH activity and pathological observation. In addition, another 50 mice were divided randomly into 5 groups of 10 mice each: normal control group, obesity model control group, weight-reducing group treated with Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar, and hyperlipemia model control group and blood lipid-reducing group treated with Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar. The body weight, fat coefficient and serum total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) of the mice were determined after 30 days of administration. Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar could increase GSH content, improve ADH activity and decrease MDA content in the liver of mice. Meanwhile, Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar could markedly reduce the denaturation of mouse blood lipid, and attenuate the hepatomegaly caused by chronic alcoholism. Moreover, Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar could inhibit the increase of body weight and fat content to realize the weight-reducing function. Furthermore, the fruit vinegar could also prevent arteriosclerosis through reducing blood lipid.

Key words: Hovenia dulcis Thunb. fruit vinegar, chronic alcoholism, hepatoprotective effect, weight-reducing effect, blood lipid-reducing effect