A REVIEW ON ANTI-DIABETIC POTENTIAL OF GENUS SOLANUM (SOLANACEAE)

Abstract

The Solanum genus ( Solanaceae family) comprised of one thousand five hundred species and most of the members of the genus are widely used as food and traditional medicine. Diabetes mellitus is a common and serious metabolic disorder throughout the world. Traditionally used medicinal plants play an important role as alternative medicine due to less toxic effects and cost. The aim of this review is to report anti-diabetic potential of plants of Solanum genus on the basis of the secondary data published. This will help in identifying the state of anti-diabetic knowledge in regards to this genus and to propose future research priorities. The major scientific database including Science direct, SciFinder and Google scholar were searched for information on Solanum genus using various keyword combinations. A total of eight Solanum species were reported in literature to have anti-diabetic property. Some of the plant species reported to modify different complications of diabetes like hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress in diseased animals. On the basis of anti-diabetic and other related activities, plants of Solanum genus are the most promising plant species to develop as efficacious and safer medicines for diabetes and its complications. Considering the present status of this disease and potential of Solanum genus, there ismuch scope of studying this genus thoroughly, which may resultin development of affordable, efficacious and safer remedies against the silent killer disease. Key words: Solanum genus, anti-diabetic activity, hyperlipidemia, oxidative stress, methyl caffeate.