Abstract

ALPHA-AMYLASE INHIBITION ASSAY AND QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF AQUEOUS FOLIAR EXTRACT OF PIPER BETLE

Varsha Chauhan, Dhananjay Kashyap and Neha Chauhan*

Abstract

Piper betle is a member of Piperaceae family. It is a perennial dioecious, semi woody climber Stems strongly swollen at the nodes, papillose when young, soon entirely glabrous. Leaves alternate, simple and yellowish green to bright green in colour. Piper betle is a Vedic plant and its Vedic name is Saptasira6 and in Sanskrit it known as Tambool, Nagvelleri, Nagani, etc. and were used as remedy against various diseases. Piper betle is cultivated in India, China, Srilanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Nepal and East Africa. Betel leaves have a strong pungent flavour and is widely used as a masticatory. It has shown various biological activities such as Antimicrobial, Anticancer, Antihistaminic, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Antihaemolytic, Antiulcer, Antidiabetic, Antiallergic, Antimalerial, Antituberculosis, Cytotoxic activity, Oral Hygiene, Wound Healing, etc. Traditionally it is used to treat Headache, Scanty, Weakness of nerves, Respiratory disorder, Constipation, Breast milk secretion, Inflammation and Boils. Many Research studies suggest herbal remedy of Piper betle to treat diabetes or overcome blood glucose level. Leave extract of Piper betle contains flavonoids and phenols which have antidiabetic effect. Result of this study revealed that leaves extract showed α-amylase inhibition in a dose dependent manner. The extracts showed maximum inhibition at a concentration of 5 mg/ml and which is decreased with decreasing concentrations i.e. 2.5 and 1 mg/ml. In conclusion, more research is required for developing a potential and valuable antidiabetic therapy by using α- amylase inhibition. Study also reveals that plant leaves also has phytochemicals in good quantity.

Keywords: Piper betle, antidiabetic, phytochemicals.