Inhibition of α‐glucosidase and amylase by bartogenic acid isolated from Barringtonia racemosa Roxb. seeds

Abstract

Barringtonia racemosa presents a wide range of therapeutic applications. In the course of identifying bioactives from Indian medicinal plants it was observed that the hexane, ethanol and methanol extracts of B. racemosa seeds displayed potent yeast and intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. The methanol extract was found to be superior among them. However, none of the extracts exhibited pancreatic α-amylase inhibitory activity, rather the ethanol and methanol extracts accelerated the α-amylase enzyme activity. Interestingly, however, bartogenic acid isolated from the methanol extract inhibited α-amylase also. This is the first report identifying α-glucosidase inhibitory activity in B. racemosa seed extracts and assigning to bartogenic acid an α-glucosidase and amylase inhibitory property. The presence of bartogenic acid in B. racemosa seeds as a major compound is also reported for the first time in this communication. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.