INVITRO ANTI-DIABETIC ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF Tamilnadia uliginosa FRUITS
The nature has provided abundant plant wealth for all the living creatures, which possess medicinal virtues. Therefore, there is a necessity to explore their uses and to ascertain their therapeutic properties. Hence, the present study aims to improvement of medicinal uses of Tamilnadia uliginosa (Rubiaceae) fruits for the selected area for anti-diabetic activity. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and its type II is the major form of diabetes. The management of the blood glucose level is a critical strategy in the control of diabetes complications. There are many and diverse therapeutic strategies in the management of Type II diabetes. The inhibition of carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes such as α-amylase can be an important strategy to lower postprandial blood glucose levels. Such inhibitors which find application in the clinical practice for management of diabetes are known to be associated with various gastrointestinal side effects. Therefore, it is the need of t ime to identify and explore the amylase inhibitors from natural sources having fewer side effects. In the present study, aqueous extract of Tamilnadia uliginosa fruits (AETUF), which are used in the traditional system of medicine to treat diabetes, were tested for their inhibitory effect on α-amylase. The results revealed that the extract (AETUF) possessed significant level of activity; the highest concentration of extract was high effective as an anti -diabetic agent. However, these effects need to be confirmed using in vivo models and clinical trials for its effective utilization as therapeutic agents.