Traditional medicines claim to possess many drugs for the management of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Scores of plant drugs have been investigated and reported to possess hypoglycemic effect. In India, more than 200 plant drugs mostly based on animal studies have been reported to possess antihyperglycemic effect and about two dozen such drugs have been extensively investigated. Several drug formulations including Diabecon (Himalaya), HypoNIDD (Charak Pharma), Dabur Madhurakshak (Dabur), Madhumehari granules (Baidyanath) Diabeat (Hamdard laboratories) and Qus Ziabetus (Dawakhana Tibbiya College), Nushkur (Hasni Pharmacy) etc. are also available in the Indian market. But surprisingly most of the available drugs cannot be used independently (as monotherapy) in the management of diabetes probably because they neither produce reproducible effect nor can manage the established diabetic patients, independently. They are mostly used in prediabetic patients, newly diagnosed patients or as an adjuvant with other allopathic oral hypoglycemic agents.

A few years back BGR-34 and IME 9 were introduced in the market. Although these formulations received a tremendous response, however, they are mostly thought to act in a supporting capacity. They have been reported to reduce the dose of a certain allopathic drug but their role as an independent hypoglycemic agent to manage the establish cases of diabetes has not been ascertained. Indian Ayurvedic and Unani pharmacopeia also have mentioned many drugs for the control of diabetes but whether they are as effective as an allopathic oral hypoglycemic agent is difficult to affirm.

In spite of having a treasure of potential drugs why traditional systems failed to develop an effective antidiabetic product?