A Comprehensive Review: Medicinal Plants with Potential Antidiabetic Activity

Abstract

Abstract Medicinal plants really play an important role in the treatment of various health problems because of their better acceptance and being safe from undesirable side effects. Diabetes mellitusis is an interesting area of herbal research at present. More than 400 medicinal plants are used to treat diabetes mellitus all over the world. A number of animal studies to test the claimed activity have demonstrated the hypoglycemic property of many of these plants. The effect of these antidiabetic medicinal plants may delay the development of diabetic complications and may correct the metabolic abnormalities. The search for a novel antidiabetic drug advocates the utilization of plants as a potential source. Some research approches are suggested to increase the liklihood of isolating novel antidiabetic agents from plant sources. Many new bioactive compounds have been isolated from hypoglycemic plants which showed antidiabetic activity with more efficacy than oral hypoglycemic agents used in clinical therapy. The present paper is an attempt to list the plants with antidiabetic activity. A large number of medicinal plants (194) described in this review clearly demonstrated their efficacy in the treatment of diabetes. Some plants of the following family which revealed confirmed hypoglycemic effects include: Leguminaceae (11 species); Laminaceae (7 species); Cucurbitaceae (8 species); Liliaceae (8 species); Asteraceae (6 species); Moraceae (6 species); Eupho rbiaceae (5 species) and Arliaceae (5 species.)Plant species which revealed most potent hypoglycemic effects are: Trigonella foenum grucum, Momordica Charantia, Gymnema sylvestrae, Citrullus colocynthis, polygala senega, Opuntia streptacantha and Eugenia Jambolina. Keywords: Medicinal plants, diabetes mellitus, antidiabetic activity Cite this Article: Sharma P, Prasad GBKS. A Comprehensive Review Medicinal Plants with Potential Antidiabetic Activity. Research and Reviews: Journal of Herbal Sciences (RRJoHS) . 2015; 4(1): 29–57p.