Phytochemical Screening and Biological Activities of a Remedy from A-thi-sa-ra-wak Scripture as a Folkloric Diabetic Medicine doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v6i6.5

Abstract

The A-thi-sa-ra-wak scripture is a folkloric Thai traditional medicinal literature containing 30 remedies for a variety of diseases. The sixth remedy in the scripture consists of Ficus religiosa, Smilax china, S. glabra, and Tectona grandis (FST), which are designated specifically for the treatment of diabetes. This study was conducted to investigate the phytochemical contents and biological activities of a remedy from the thi-sa-ra-wak scripture. Constituent plants of the remedy were extracted with aqueous (FSTA), 50% ethanol (FSTHE), and 95% ethanol (FSTE). The phytochemical screening was performed to determine total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents. The antioxidant activity were examined using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazy (DPPH), 2,2-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS+ ) radical scavenging, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Based on the inhibition of the α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes, the hypoglycemic mechanism was identified. The results of the study showed that the FSTHE had a significantly (p < 0.05) higher concentration of TPC, while the FSTE had a higher concentration of TFC. The FSTHE was more potent on DPPH and ABTS, but the FSTA had reducing power on FRAP. The FSTA had more potent -glucosidase inhibition, while the FSTHE showed an effect on α-amylase inhibitory activity. Furthermore, the remedy had a significant (p < 0.05) effect on the suppression of the α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes than acarbose, a common anti-diabetic medication. The findings of this study reveal that the biological activities of the remedy contributed to the antioxidation, α-glucosidase, and α-amylase enzyme inhibitions, thereby confirming the use of the remedy as a diabetic drug.