Evaluation of In Vitro Alpha Amylase and alpha glucosidase inhibitory activities of bark of Terminalia bellirica

Mary Shoba Das C. and Gayathri Devi S* 
Department of Biochemistry, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore–43, TamilNadu, India

Abstract
Diabetes  mellitus  is  a  chronic  disease  and  known  to  be  associated  with  obesity,  hypertension,  hyper- lipidemia,  neuropathy  and cardiovascular diseases. In the present study the petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and aqueous extracts of bark of Terminalia bellirica were subjected to α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory assay. The extracts of Terminalia bellirica elicited a dose dependent inhibition against alpha amylase and glucosidase activity. The ethanol extract shows higher inhibitory activity than other extracts. From the present study, it is clear that the bark of Terminalia bellirica contain potential α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitors which can be used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Keywords: In vitro antidiabetic activity, α-amylase inhibition, α-glucosidase inhibition, Terminalia bellirica