Hypoglycemic Activity of Compounds from Pithecellobium dulce

Medicinal plants have been reported to play an important role in modulating glycemic responses and have preventive and therapeutic implications. The intestinal digestive enzymes play a vital role in the carbohydrate digestion. The present investigation evaluated the possible action of isolated compounds through which pithecellobium dulce fruit peel exerts its hypoglycemic effect using suitable in vitro techniques. The isolated compounds were subjected to inhibitory effect of non-enzymatic glycosylation of hemoglobin assay and enzymatic alpha-amylase inhibition assay using specific standard in vitro procedure. Non-enzymatic glycosylation of hemoglobin assay showed inhibitory activity of 73.7% and 53.9% at 1 mg/ml. The IC₅₀ values of amylase inhibitory activity of compounds from pithecellobium dulce fruit peel was found to be 80.9% and 56.5% at 1 mg/ml. Results in two different compounds revealed that the compound 1 was found to be more potent than compound 2 at the concentrations 0.2 mg/dl to 1.0 mg/dl. The findings indicate Pithecellobium dulce fruit peel possess strong hypoglycemic effect and hence can be utilized as an adjunct in the management of diabetes mellitus.