On what bases I can select the plant against diabetes? Is there any strategy for selecting plants for specific diseases.
@Devendra,
Please go through the available literature on traditional medicinal plants used in the management of diabetes. From that you can select the plant species on which the detailed scientific studied have not been carried out so far.
Secondly you look for the chemical compounds responsible for the antidiabetic activity of the plant species. You can select the species having these phytochemicals and study it for the same activity.
Agree with M. Sidhu... Search for traditional sources and then try to find out the scientific basis for the traditional use. Also search the ancient texts like Ayuveda, Charak Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Bhavprakash NIghantu, Indian Materia medica where information about the plants is available accroding to different classifications. May be you can get a chapter on anti diabetics as well. This would make your search lot easier and you will get an exposure of the epic herbal literature too. The other method of targetting the phytoconstituents is also a good one. You can go either way u like but unless u have a reading of traditional literature, you will always miss something :)
Regards
Hi Devandra,
For us here, we follow two approaches. Firstly, is to check and do enough literature search, be it from written traditional knowledge or face to face intweview. Secondly, is to look for previously reported phytochemicals from plant of plant families with antidiabetes property and you work your way to interesting discoveries from there. Good luck!
measure the effect of the plant on the Alpha Glucosidase Enzyme Activity
By many ways we can select a plant for anti diabetes activity. 1- it should have
anti oxidant activity ( Catechins, or other poly phenols) 2- it should be diuretic 3- it should have mythogenic properties.
I agree with all of the previous responses to your question. Conduct literature search on medicinal plants which have been documented to have hypoglycemic activity and/or are known to contain compounds that exhibit hypoglycemic activity, such as glycosides, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, carotenoids, etc. Confirm hypoglycemic activity of the plant by checking its extract for alpha glucosidase activity. You could also subject the plant extract to oral glucose tolerance test using animal models.
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