Hypoglycemic potential of <i style="">Morus indica. </i>L and <i style="">Costus igneus. </i>Nak<i style="">.</i>—A preliminary study

614-616Powdered leaves (500 mg/kg body weight) of medicinal plants M. indica and C. igneus known to possess therapeutic effect were supplemented to streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Leaf powders of both the plants were able to reduce blood glucose levels in the animals by 38 and 21% respectively after 15 days of supplementation. The preliminary results suggest that both the plants possess potent hypoglycemic activity

Antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic effect of Morus Indica L. in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats

The present study evaluated the long term hypoglycemic effect of Morus indica L. in rats induced with diabetes, to determine the changes in activity of glycolytic and gluconeogenic enzymes and to compare the effect of Morus indica L. with conventional antidiabetic drugs - Insulin and Glibenclamide (OHA). Morus indica L. was obtained from the Department of Studies in Sericulture, University of Mysore, India. The antihyperglycemic effect of the plant was tested in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The effect of Morus indica L. on carbohydrate metabolizing enzymes was also studied. Morus indica powder (MIP) at a level of 500mg/kg body weight, reduced blood glucose level in the animals by 42 after 45 days. The blood glucose in animals supplemented with MIP decreased from an initial level of 257± 69.4 to 148.8 ± 34.48 mg/dl. The activity of aldolase in the liver of MIP and Insulin treated groups was 0.19u/g and in Glibenclamide treated group, it was 0.18u/g protein. The activity of G-6-PDH decreased significantly (p<0.05) in untreated diabetic group (0.24 ± 0.04 mIU/mg). The G-6-PDH levels in MIP, Insulin and Glibenclamide treated group were 1.38 ± 0.48, 0.98 ± 0.10 and 1.04 ± 0.42 mIU/mg protein, respectively which were higher compared to the diabetic control group. The activities of AsAT and AlAT decreased significantly in animals treated with Morus, Insulin and Glibenclimide. The results prove that Morus could effectively reduce the blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and also reverse the activity of elevated enzymes which can prove beneficial in the management of hyperglycemia

Nutrient profile and antioxidant components of <i style="">Costus speciosus </i>Sm.<i style=""> </i>and<i style=""> Costus igneus</i> Nak.

116-118Leaves powder of two medicinal plants, viz. Costus speciosus (Koenig) Sm. and Costus igneus N.E.Br. was analyzed for their proximate composition and antioxidant components. Both the species contain 18 and 15.3% protein, 46 and 120 mg iron, 81 and 216 mg ascorbic acid, 660 and 1833μg β-carotene, 149 and 25 mg α-tocopherol, 75 and 400 mmol of GSH, 4.4 and 2.1g total phenols and 0.848 and 1.89 mg/g extract of total flavonoids, respectively. The powders were subjected to sequential extraction and screened for phytochemicals. The data revealed that both the plants are good sources of nutrients and natural antioxidant components. Further studies are needed to evaluate the medicinal properties of these plants

Evaluation of antioxidant activity of some plant extracts and their heat, pH and storage stability

In the present study, three plant foods, namely, drumstick leaves (Moringa oleifera), mint leaves (Mentha spicata) and carrot tuber (Daucus carota) were extracted with ethanol and analyzed for their antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of extracts was evaluated according to the amount of malonaldehyde (MDA) formed by the FeSO4-induced oxidation of linoleic acid and a high PUFA oil (sunflower oil) at 37°C in Trizma-buffer (pH 7.4). At a concentration of 1.5mg/ml of linoleic acid ,the extracts from drumstick and carrot had a higher antioxidant activity (83 and 80) than α-tocopherol (72). In sunflower oil, the extracts from drumstick leaves and mint leaves were found to exhibit a similar activity( 46 and 44). The extract from drumstick exhibited the highest activity in both lipid systems. In addition, the stability of extracts to pH (4 and 9) and temperature (100°C, 15min) was investigated. The antioxidant activity of the extracts from mint leaves and carrot was higher at pH 9 than pH 4, while that of drumstick extract remained the same under both pH conditions. The extract from carrot was more heat-stable than other extracts. The three extracts stored in the dark at 5 and 25°C after a 15 day period did not show any significant change (p⩽0.05) in their antioxidant activity. These data indicate that selected plant extracts are potential sources of dietary antioxidants