The study reached these results, after scientists at the Royal Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, analyzed antioxidant compounds known as phenols and hydroxycitric acid, extracted from hibiscus flowers.
The scientists treated separate batches of human stem cells with either a phenolic extract or hydroxycitric acid, before they were stimulated to transform into fat cells, while the acid appeared to have no effect on the fat cells.
As a result, it was discovered that fat cells derived from stem cells treated with phenol contained 95% less fat than the control group from untreated cells. Scientists also concluded that the phenolic extract works by inhibiting the activity of a digestive enzyme called lipase.
Scientists revealed that the lipase enzyme usually breaks down ingested fat into small parts that can be absorbed through the walls of the intestine, and excess fat, which the body does not need to obtain energy quickly, is stored in fat cells, so they concluded that by preventing lipase from performing its function, it allows Hibiscus phenols these fats by simply passing through the digestive tract.