Comparative hypoglycemic potentials and phytochemical profiles of 12 common leafy culinary vegetables consumed in Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria
-
Patrick Emeka Aba
and
Ifeanyi Ronald Udechukwu
Abstract
Background
Metabolic disease like diabetes mellitus is on the increase in developing countries due to lack of access to orthodox medicine owing to its high cost. Health benefits of culinary vegetables cannot be overemphasized. This study therefore aims to profile the hypoglycaemic potentials of 12 common leafy vegetables consumed in Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria and advise diabetic patients accordingly.
Methods
A total of 75 albino Wistar rats assigned to 15 groups of five rats per group were used for the study. Diabetes was induced in groups 1–14 rats by intraperitoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate (160 mg/kg), and rats in group 15 were not made diabetic. Groups 1–12 rats were treated with aqueous extracts of the vegetables (200 mg/kg), and group 13 rats received glibenclamide at 2 mg/kg and served as standard control. Rats in groups 14 and 15 received distilled water (10 mL/kg) to serve as negative and normal controls, respectively. The fasting blood glucose (FBG) values of the rats were determined 3, 6 and 24 h post-treatment. Phytochemical studies on the vegetables were also carried out.
Results
Results revealed that the hypoglycaemic activities of Gongronema latifolium, Pterocarpus santalinoides, Ocimum gratissimum, Pterocarpus mildbraedii and Vernonia amygdalina were comparable (p>0.05) to that obtained for glibenclamide (standard anti-diabetic drug) while Gnetum africanum and Piper guineense did not show significant hypoglycaemic activities. Phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, glycosides, and terpenes were present in the vegetables.
Conclusions
It was concluded that the vegetables possess hypoglycaemic activities at different capacities with G. latifolium being the most potent.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: None declared.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organisation(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Letter to the Editor
- Blister-packed levothyroxine sodium or bottle-packed levothyroxine sodium
- Metabolism
- Comparative hypoglycemic potentials and phytochemical profiles of 12 common leafy culinary vegetables consumed in Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria
- Infection
- The effects of oral pregabalin on post-Lichtenstein herniorrhaphic pain: a randomized clinical trial
- Cardiovascular Function
- Influence of age and gender on blood pressure variability and baroreflex sensitivity in a healthy population in the Indian sub-continent
- Autonomic responses during acute myocardial infarction in the rat model: implications for arrhythmogenesis
- Phytotherapy
- Role of reactive oxygen species–total antioxidant capacity status in Telfairia occidentalis leaves–associated spermatoprotective effect: a pointer to fatty acids benefit
- Antidiabetic and renoprotective effect of Anogeissus acuminata leaf extract on experimentally induced diabetic nephropathy
- Oxidative Stress
- Aged coconut oil with a high peroxide value induces oxidative stress and tissue damage in mercury-treated rats
- Anti-ulcerogenic effect of the methanol extract of Chasmanthera dependens (Hochst) stem on male Wistar rats
- Hematological Profile
- Evaluation of hematological alterations after therapeutic use of dipyrone in healthy adults: a prospective study
- Hematology and erythrocyte osmotic fragility of the Franquet’s fruit bat (Epomops franqueti)
- Behavior and Neuroprotection
- Haloperidol-induced parkinsonism is attenuated by varenicline in mice
- Antioxidant-mediated neuroprotection by Allium schoenoprasum L. leaf extract against ischemia reperfusion-induced cerebral injury in mice
- Effects of acetone extract of Cola nitida on brain sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase activity and spatial memory in healthy and streptozotocin-induced diabetic female Wistar rats
- Case Report
- Conservative treatment of postoperative chylothorax: a case report
- Short Communication
- Improved serotonergic neurotransmission by genistein pretreatment regulates symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Letter to the Editor
- Blister-packed levothyroxine sodium or bottle-packed levothyroxine sodium
- Metabolism
- Comparative hypoglycemic potentials and phytochemical profiles of 12 common leafy culinary vegetables consumed in Nsukka, Southeastern Nigeria
- Infection
- The effects of oral pregabalin on post-Lichtenstein herniorrhaphic pain: a randomized clinical trial
- Cardiovascular Function
- Influence of age and gender on blood pressure variability and baroreflex sensitivity in a healthy population in the Indian sub-continent
- Autonomic responses during acute myocardial infarction in the rat model: implications for arrhythmogenesis
- Phytotherapy
- Role of reactive oxygen species–total antioxidant capacity status in Telfairia occidentalis leaves–associated spermatoprotective effect: a pointer to fatty acids benefit
- Antidiabetic and renoprotective effect of Anogeissus acuminata leaf extract on experimentally induced diabetic nephropathy
- Oxidative Stress
- Aged coconut oil with a high peroxide value induces oxidative stress and tissue damage in mercury-treated rats
- Anti-ulcerogenic effect of the methanol extract of Chasmanthera dependens (Hochst) stem on male Wistar rats
- Hematological Profile
- Evaluation of hematological alterations after therapeutic use of dipyrone in healthy adults: a prospective study
- Hematology and erythrocyte osmotic fragility of the Franquet’s fruit bat (Epomops franqueti)
- Behavior and Neuroprotection
- Haloperidol-induced parkinsonism is attenuated by varenicline in mice
- Antioxidant-mediated neuroprotection by Allium schoenoprasum L. leaf extract against ischemia reperfusion-induced cerebral injury in mice
- Effects of acetone extract of Cola nitida on brain sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase activity and spatial memory in healthy and streptozotocin-induced diabetic female Wistar rats
- Case Report
- Conservative treatment of postoperative chylothorax: a case report
- Short Communication
- Improved serotonergic neurotransmission by genistein pretreatment regulates symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice
