Fatty Acid Profiling and In Vitro Antihyperglycemic Effect of Leucas cephalotes (Roth) Spreng via Carbohydrate Hydrolyzing Enzyme Inhibition

BACKGROUND: Leucas cephalotes has been used by many tribes to treat variety of diseases and known to have many essential secondary metabolites. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first comparative analysis of total fatty acid (FA) composition and α-amylase inhibition activity of L. cephalotes. OBJECTIVE: The present study is carried out to explore the antihyperglycemic activity and FA contents of all parts of L. cephalotes. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Fruits, leaves, stems, and roots part of L. cephalotes have been extracted in ethanol. Simultaneously, all plant parts have been extracted in hexane with Soxhlet extraction. Ethanolic extracts have been evaluated for antihyperglycemic activity and hexane extract have been analyzed for FA identification. RESULT: The present study indicated that ethanolic extract of fruit and leaves have shown significant α-amylase inhibitory activity with IC(50) value of 92.86 ± 0.89 and 98.09 ± 0.69 μg/mL, respectively. FA composition of all the parts of L. cephalotes was analyzed by GC/MS. Nineteen FAs have been identified in all parts of L. cephalotes in which palmitic acid, oleic acid, linolenic acid, and linoleic acid were major FAs. CONCLUSION: The study indicates that L. cephalotes has significant potential to inhibit α-amylase enzyme and it is a rich source of essential FAs. SUMMARY: L. cephalotes has significant antidiabetic activity and will be beneficial for diabetic patients to reduce the starch breakdown and helps in reduction of postprandial hyperglycemia. It can be used in the formulation of diabetic drugs. L. cephalotes is rich source of essential FAs and may be used as a nutraceutical. Ethanol extract of fruits and leaves of L. cephalotes are showed the maximum α-amylase inhibition when compared with standard drug acarbose. Abbreviations used: DM: Diabetes Mellitus, FA: Fatty Acid, FFAs: Free Fatty Acids, FAME: Fatty Acid Methyl Ester, IC50: Inhibitor Concentration, GC-MS: Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrophotometer