Chemical Composition, Antioxidant, and <i>α</i>-Glucosidase-Inhibiting Activity of Aqueous and Hydroethanolic Extracts of Traditional Antidiabetics from Croatian Ethnomedicine
2021
Kristina Bljajić | Andrea Brajković | Ana Čačić | Lovorka Vujić | Jasna Jablan | Isabel Saraiva de Carvalho | Marijana Zovko Končić
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic disease with a growing prevalence worldwide. In addition to the conventional therapy, many T2D patients use phytotherapeutic preparations. In the present study, chemical composition, antioxidant, and α-glucosidase inhibiting activity of traditional antidiabetics from Croatian ethnomedicine (<i>Achillea millefolium</i>, <i>Artemisia absinthium</i>, <i>Centaurium erythraea</i>, <i>Morus</i><i>alba</i>, <i>Phaseolus vulgaris</i>, <i>Sambucus nigra</i>, and <i>Salvia officinalis</i>) were assessed. The efficacy of water and 80% ethanol as extraction solvents for bioactive constituents was compared. HPLC analysis revealed that the prepared extracts were rich in phenols, especially rutin, ferulic, and chlorogenic acid. Antiradical (against DPPH and ABTS radicals), reducing (towards Mo<sup>6+</sup> and Fe<sup>3+</sup> ions), and enzyme inhibiting properties were in linear correlation with the content of phenolic constituents. Ethanolic extracts, richer in phenolic substances, showed dominant efficacy in those assays. Aqueous extracts, on the other hand, were better Fe<sup>2+</sup> ion chelators and more active in the β-carotene linoleic acid assay. Extracts from <i>S. officinalis</i> and <i>A. millefolium</i> were particularly active antioxidants and α-glucosidase inhibitors. <i>A. absinthium</i>, another potent α-glucosidase inhibitor, contained chromium, a mineral that promotes insulin action. The investigated plants contained significant amounts of minerals useful in management of T2D, with negligible amounts of heavy metals deeming them safe for human use.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Directory of Open Access Journals