Hypoglycemic effect of food products developed from gurmar (Gymnema sylvestre R. Br.) in rats
Abstract
The present study was conducted on gurmar (Gymnema sylvestre) leaves. These
were evaluated for their chemical composition; develop technology for utilization of
gurmar leaves powder in value addition and the nutritional value of the developed
products. The effect of supplementation of gurmar leaves powder was determined on
various blood parameters of alloxan-induced diabetic rats; the effect of supplementation
of these leaves was also determined on various organs of rats viz. liver, kidney and
pancreas by histopathological examination.
Moisture (fresh leaves) and (dry leaves powder), crude protein, crude fat, crude
fibre, ash and total carbohydrates ranged from 19.97, 2.84, 14.33, 2.44, 13.10, 8.87 and
61.26 per cent, DW, respectively. Four products viz. mattar, sev, biscuit and chooran
were prepared using gurmar leaves powder. The products namely, mattar, sev and biscuit
were prepared by incorporating 5, 10 and 15 per cent gurmar leaves powder, whereas
chooran was prepared using various medicinal plants in different compositions as
gurmar leaves powder (40%), jamun seed powder (20%), methi seed powder (10%),
neem leaves powder (10%), karela powder (10%) and amla powder (10%). All the
developed products were organoleptically evaluated.
Value added products developed incorporating 5, 10 and 15 per cent gurmar
leaves powder viz. mattar, sev and biscuits were found in the category of ‘liked
moderately’ to ‘neither liked nor disliked’, ‘liked very much’ to ‘liked slightly’ and ‘liked
moderately’ to liked slightly’, respectively; whereas gurmar leaves powder and chooran
were categorized under ‘liked very much’ and ‘liked moderately’, respectively.
Organoleptic acceptability of products namely, sev, chooran as well as gurmar leaves
powder were found superior as compared to the products like mattar and biscuits.
Physical characteristics of control and supplemented biscuits were also recorded.
All the developed products were nutritionally analyzed. Among all the products,
significant wide variation was found in moisture, crude protein, crude fat, ash, crude
fibre, total carbohydrates, β-carotene, vitamin C, available carbohydrates, dietary fibre
constituents, total minerals, in vitro availability of minerals and antinutrients. The
differences in the nutritional composition were observed which might be due to the
compositional difference of gurmar leaves powder and other ingredients used in the
development of the products and not due to processing.
The effectiveness of chooran and gurmar leaves powder (4g day-1 or 66.67 mg
day-1) in controlling hyperglycaemia and hyperlipidaemia in comparison with a
conventional anti-hyperglycaemic drug, named tolbutamide (50 mg day-1) was
investigated in 48 alloxan-induced male Wistar rats. Animal studies revealed that there
was a body weight homeostasis (135.00 g and 136.67 g), and a significant (P<0.05)
reduction in serum glucose (114.66 and 112.32 mg/dl), cholesterol (113.14 and 110.80
mg/dl), LDL-cholesterol (44.35 and 38.43 mg/dl), VLDL-cholesterol (17.48 and 17.21
mg/dl), triglycerides (87.40 and 86.04 mg/dl) and liver enzymes namely, aspartate
aminotransferase (40.02 and 41.69 U/L) and alanine aminotransferase (37.74 and 35.38
U/L) were observed in chooran and gurmar leaves powder-treated diabetic rats which
were increased in the alloxan-induced diabetic control rats whereas a significant (P<0.05)
increase in HDL-cholesterol (51.31 and 55.17 mg/dl) was observed in chooran and
gurmar leaves powder-treated diabetic rats.
Pathological changes initiated in the liver and kidney during the hyperglycaemic
phase were observed to be reversed maximum in gurmar leaves powder-treated group
and gurmar leaves powder also appeared to correct the metabolic derangements in
diabetic rats’ liver and kidney by controlling hyperglycemia. The histopathological
examination of pancreas of diabetic rats showed that the oral administration of gurmar
leaves powder doubled the islet number and beta (β)-cell number.
Thus, it can be concluded that Gymnema sylvestre represents an effective
antihyperglycaemic and antihyperlipidemic adjunct for the treatment of diabetes as a long
term measure as gurmar leaves powder appeared to bring about serum glucose
homeostasis through increased serum insulin levels provided by repair/regeneration of
the endocrine pancreas; concluding that Gymnema sylvestre may become a potential
source of discovery of new orally active agent for future therapy.
Description
Keywords
Biological phenomena, Bakery products, Glucose, Organic compounds, Diseases, Enzymes, Acidity, Carbohydrates, Extraction, Peptides