Evaluation of α - amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitory potential in aqueous fruit extract of Aegle marmelos L. encapsulated alginate nanoformulation

Abstract

Introduction and objectives: Development of phytotherapeutics using nanoencapsulation is a timely approach to enhance the antidiabetic activity. Aegle marmelos L. (Bael, Family: Rutaceae) has been used in complementary medicine with proven antidiabetic activity. A previous study confirmed that the 1 mg/mL concentration of A. marmelos showed the optimum encapsulation. The aim of this study was to determine the antidiabetic activity of aqueous fruit extract of A. marmelos encapsulated alginate nanoformulation in terms of α - amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitory potential in order to develop a phytotherapeutic agent with improved efficacy. Methods: Dried fruit of A. marmelos was extracted with distilled water using ultrasonication (40oC, 30 min, 40 kHz) followed by refluxing (100oC, 2 ½ h). Ionic gelation method was used to design the nanoformulation. Nanoformulation was subjected to α - amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitory assays and compared with the reference compound acarbose. Results: Encapsulated alginate nanoformulation showed IC50 values of 5.87 ± 1.69 mg/mL and 0.60 ± 0.09 mg/mL for α - amylase and α - glucosidase assays respectively. The improvement in α - amylase and α - glucosidase activity was 55.37 % and 96.38 % with respective to the crude extract of A. marmelos. Conclusions: These results indicate that encapsulation of A. marmelos aqueous fruit extract in alginate nanoformulation improves the antidiabetic activity in terms of α - amylase and α - glucosidase inhibitory potential which may be a good candidate for the development of phytotherapeutic agent targeting the management of diabetes mellitus.