DOI: https://doi.org/10.36347/sajp.2025.v14i09.004

Pages: 235-240

Diabetes is a debilitating disease that is associated with lifelong costs for low-income populations. Glucose intolerance is one of the key developmental stages of type 2 diabetes. Numerous bioactive compounds, such as flavonoids and tannins, have already demonstrated their effectiveness in experimental models of diabetes management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of E. indica in relation to its bioactive compound content and its antioxidant activity. The work, therefore, initially involved measuring the total phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and condensed tannins using conventional methods widely described in the published literature. The DPPH test was used for antioxidant analysis, while the glucose tolerance test was used to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of the extract using four groups of six animals each, with glipalamide as a positive control. The results obtained show a total phenolic compound (TPC) content of 121.27 ± 2.61 µg EAG/mg of extract and a total flavonoid (TFT) content of 367.25 ± 5.63 µg EQ/mg of extract. Condensed tannins (CT) indicate a content of 35.33 ± 1.45 µg EC/mg of extract. The antioxidant test using the DPPH method shows an IC50 of 0.7739 ± 0.0033 mg/mL. The tolerance test shows that the 200mg/kg dose exhibits a very significant glucose tolerance compared to the normal control (glucose alone). In fact, blood sugar levels normalized after 60 minutes and stabilized at around a 0% increase, compared to 150 minutes for glucose (glucose alone). Compared to glipalamide, the 200 mg/kg dose of extract normalized blood glucose levels, while glipalamide caused slight hypoglycemia after a much faster normalization. As for the 400 mg/kg dose, it had a similar effect as that of the 200 mg/kg dose, but after 60 minutes it caused a slight increase, indicating a biphasic effect of the extract. This could indicate toxicity at high doses.