Antioxidant and anti-diabetic activity of Salacia chinensis stem extract

The present study aims to evaluate the antioxidant activity of Salacia chinensis specimen stem extract collected from five different locations. In- vitro antidiabetic activity of aqueous stem extracts of Salacia chinensis of Karikan accession on α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes was studied. The stem extracts of Salacia chinensis (Hubili, Karikan, Bandal, Jogimat and Udipi locations from Karnataka) were evaluated for qualitative and quantitative antioxidant activity of aqueous, ethanol, chloroform, petroleum ether and acetone extracts by using DPPH as free radical. Different concentrations of aqueous stem extract of Salacia chinensis were subjected to α -amylase and α- glucosidase inhibitory assay. The absorbance was measured at 540 and 405 nm using UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and the percentage of α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and IC50 values of extract and fractions were calculated. The aqueous stem extract of Salacia chinensis showed significant radical scavenging activity. The aqueous stem extract of Salacia chinensis of Karikan accession exhibit dose –dependent increase in inhibitory effect on α-amylase enzyme(up to 87.30 %) which was comparable with standard drug acarbose (74.03 %) and α-glucosidase enzyme(up to 78.30 %) which was comparable with standard drug acarbose (81.60 %) whereas other concentrations shown lesser activity.