Antidiabetic Screening and Phytochemical Investigation of Selected Medicinal Plants

Abstract

The traditional herbal medications are become mainstream throughout the world. Since ancient times, plants have been source of medicines. Ayurveda and other Indian literature mention the use of plants in treatment of various human diseases. India has about 45000 plant species and among them several thousands have medicinal properties. Plants are major source of drugs and many of the currently available drugs have been derived directly or indirectly from them. Since ancient times, plants have been used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. There are many hypoglycemic plants and their active principles varies. Therefore considerable diversity in the mechanism of action. Some act by increasing the release of insulin and require a minimum of and#946;-cells to exert their action. Other plant extracts or constituents act by modifying glucose metabolism. All are important since they are used to treat the different aspects of diabetes mellitus. The selected plant Actiniopteris radiata was collected from Nilgiri district, Tamilnadu and authenticated. The dried plant material was subjected to successive extraction with petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and ethanol by soxhlet method. The extracts were concentrated under reduced pressure and controlled temperature. The phytochemical studies of the extracts gave positive test for the flavanoids, carbohydrates, hydrocarbons, fatty acids, sterols, steroids, steroidal glycoside and unknown glycoside. Determination of water soluble extract, alcohol soluble extract, total ash, acid insoluble ash and water soluble ash were carried out. The quantitative phytochemical estimations total phenol content and total flavonoid content of the extracts were estimated. In vitro antioxidant studies DPPH, ABTS, Nitric oxide, Super oxide and Deoxy ribose were carried out. The ethyl acetate extract shown potent in vitro antioxidant activity. The ethyl acetate extract of Actiniopteris radiata was selected for in vivo anti-diabetic activity based on the in vitro antioxidant activity.