Diabetes is one of the chronic diseases affecting worldwide population. Presently, there is a growing interest in herbal remedies due to the side effects associated with the
use of insulin and oral hypoglycaemic agents for diabetic patient. Therefore an investigation is required in a bionetwork rich and industrially-developed country like
Malaysia to use alternative approaches to treat diabetics, such as plant based medicine. In this study, forty types of Malaysian antidiabetic plants were examined on the basis
of their uses in traditional medicines throughout Southeast Asia, to develop an understanding of the distribution and to give an assessment of the diversity present in
the selected plants. Extracts of all 40 species of Malaysian medicinal plants were examined for �-glucosidase inhibition using an in-vitro model. Most of the plants
showed varying degree of inhibitory activity (%) but Centella asiatica had the maximum percentage of �-glucosidase inhibitory activity (99.03%) while the second
best is Morinda citrifolia with 96.37% inhibitory activity. Another two potential plants which gave higher inhibitory activity were Cucumis sativus (93.95%) and Euphorbia
tircalli L. (90.56%). These potential plants with �-glucosidase inhibitory activity can be a hope for millions for treatment of diabetes and will also help in reducing the
dependence on synthetic drugs in the future
