PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND IN VITRO EVALUATION OF ANTIDIABETIC ACTIVITY OF FICUS PALMATA FRUITS

Nishat Anjum and Y. C. Tripathi*

ABSTRACT

The present study was aimed to investigate the phytochemical composition and in-vitro substantiation of the α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes inhibitory activity of Ficus palmata fruits. The fruits were extracted with methanol: water (4:1 v/v) and the extract obtained were further fractionated using n-butanol, ethylacetate, methanol and water. All the four fractions were phytochemically screened for presence of various phytochemical groups and evaluated for α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity at different concentrations (50-500 g/ml). Phytochemical screening revealed highest number of different phytochemicals in the MeOH fraction followed by EtOAc and aqueous fractions. All the fractions exhibited inhibitory action against α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes in a concentration dependant manner. The highest inhibitory activities of BuOH, EtOAc, MeOH and aqueous fraction were recorded as 61.77, 85.41, 90.63, and 78.25% against α-amylase and 69.81, 86.39, 93.43, and 79.55 % against α-glucosidase respectively at a concentration of 500 μg/ml. Among all, methanol fraction recorded the best α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 166.912.73 and 118.730.67 g/ml respectively comparable to that of acarbose (154.872.33 and105.631.71 g/ml). The present study amply established the potent α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of F. palmata fruits. The highest inhibitory efficacy of methanol fraction of F. palmata fruit which may be due the presence of bioactive phytochemicals in higher concentration could be beneficially exploited in the treatment of Type2DM. However, isolation and characterization of specific chemical constituents responsible for the activity as well as in-vivo studies are needed for further affirmation.

Keywords: Ficus palmata, Fruits, Phytochemical screening, ?-amylase, ?-glucosidase.