Alpha‐glucosidase Inhibitory Activity of Mormodica charantia

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic endocrine disorder characterized by high blood glucose that has become global and is ever increasing in prevalence. One of the approaches for treating diabetes is by regulating the postprandial blood glucose via inhibition of alpha‐glucosidase. Alpha‐glucosidase is an enzyme that metabolizes complex sugars converting them to absorbable monosaccharide. Alpha‐glucosidase inhibitors like acarbose and miglitol are already in the market for the treatment of diabetes, but they have some draw backs because of their side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate Mormodica charantia as an inhibitor of alpha‐glucosidase. To this effect, ethanol extract of Mormodica charantia was assayed in vitro by the method of Ramirez et al., 2012 for alpha‐glucosidase inhibitory activity in a 96‐well micro titer plate. This was read on a spectrophotometer at 400 nm using acarbose as a positive control. Our results indicated that Mormodica charantia possesses alpha‐glucosidase inhibitory action with an EC50 of 0.306 ±0.06113 mg/ml whereas acarbose produced an EC50 of 0.0.0000143 ± 6.32 mg/ml in its pure form. In this study, Mormodica charantia has demonstrated significant alpha‐glucosidase inhibitory activity suggesting that it has a potential for regulating postprandial blood glucose. Support or Funding Information Center of Excellence (COE)