A pilot study on palmyrah pinattu (dried fruit pulp) as an anti-diabetic food component

The fruit pulp of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) has been shown to inhibit intestinal glucose uptake in mice, the active principle being a steroidal saponin, flabelliferin-II which inhibits intestinal ATPase in mice at 5×10-5M level. Palmyrah fruit pulp (PFP) is widely used to manufacture many food products including dried PFP (pinattu), which has been consumed in North-East Sri Lanka for centuries. The present study was carried out to investigate whether PFP in the form of pinattu could reduce serum glucose levels of mild diabetic (Type-II) patients who were not on a drug regimen with a view to developing pinattu as an anti-diabetic food component. Patients (newly diagnosed, Type-II, mild diabetic patients) attending the diabetic clinic at the Family Practice Centre, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka, were subjected to a glucose challenge (75g/50kg BW) after a 10 hour overnight fast and the blood glucose levels determined. On subsequent visits of each patient (3 days after the first visit) blood glucose was determined after administration of PFP in the form of pinattu (6g/50kg BW) or fibre (4g/50kg BW) extracted from PFP prior to the glucose challenge. The methodology employed was the cross over method where each patient was its own control. In all mild diabetic patients treated with pinattu, there was a significant reduction (p< 0.01, by 15-48%) in blood glucose concentration after a glucose challenge. Therefore the results of the present study suggest that pinattu (dried PFP) could be used as an anti-hyperglycemic agent. Keywords: Borassus flabellifer, flabelliferin, palmyrah fruit pulp, blood glucose, diabetes. International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 1 (3) 2007: pp. 250-25

Aspects of the binding of acyclic carotenoids to flabelliferins from palmyrah fruit pulp

The fruit pulp of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) contains flabelliferins which are glycosides of β-sitosterol. Naturally bound to flabelliferins is an UV active compound, phvtofluene, which affectsbiological activity. This UV active compound shows intense blue fluorescence and can be dissociatedfrom flabelliferins.The objectives of this study were to determine the main carotenoid binder to flabelliferin-II (F-II, atetraglycoside) in a sample of PFP from Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka by HPLC and some of the chemical featuresof this complex (F-II+ carotenoid binder).HPLC studies showed that the major binder to F-II in a sample of PFP from Kalpitiya was phytofluene.No correlation was found between the stoichiometry of binding of phytofluene and F-II (r2=0.406) as wellas for Fb (r2=0.007) indicating that the binding ratios of phytofluene with F-II or Fb are not constant indifferent PFP samples tested.Computational calculations(-ΔΔHf /KJ mol-1) suggest that binding is less stable between F-II andphytofluene compared to the other flabelliferins tested. This was probably due to phytofluene distortingthe conformation of the carbohydrate moiety of F-II. Computer modeling provided confirmatory evidencefor this assumption.Key Words : Palmyrah, Borassus flabelifer, Flabelliferin