In vitro assay of alpha amylase inhibitory activity of gymnemic acid isolated from Gymnema Sylvestre leaves

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia and its type II is the major form of diabetes mellitus, accounting for 90% of cases worldwide. The management of the blood glucose level is a critical strategy in the control of diabetes mellitus 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 time to identify and explore the amylase inhibitors from natural sources having fewer side effects. In the present study, the gymnemic acid fraction of Gymnema sylvestre leaves in ancient medicine to treat diabetes were tested for their inhibitory effect on α-amylase. The HPLC analysis of gymnemic acid fraction of Gymnema sylvestre leaves with 94.68 % and 0.905 retention time may have detected The results revealed that the gymnemic acid fraction exhibited significant reduction in amylase activity. The highest inhibition i.e. 14.25% was observed at a concentration of 10 mg/mL with gymnemic acid fraction of Gymnema sylvestre leaves.