IDENTIFICATION OF PLANTS WITH STRONG ALPHA-GLUCOSIDASE AND ALPHA-AMYLASE INHIBITORY ACTIVITIES.

摘要

Developing new treatments against Type II diabetes and other carbohydrate and fat metabolism related diseases is important due to a sharp rise in the number of sufferers all over the world. Inhibitors of alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase, important enzymes in the terminal stages of carbohydrate digestion, can slow down the release of sugar in blood after a meal. Present invention describes plant extracts exhibiting significantly higher alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibitory activity, than the drugs in the market. The active compounds belong to the classes of terpenes, glycosides, phenolics, alkaloids, saponins etc. The enzyme inhibitory activity of the plant extracts is maintained over a wide pH range of 3-8. All the results point to a possible development of a pharmaceutical or nutraceutical formulation that can be consumed by humans directly without the need of a protective coating like a capsule (due to pH stability).