THE REDUCING POWER OF MONODORA MYRISTICA (AFRICAN NUTMEG): LEAVE AND SEED EXTRACT

In traditional medicine from West Africa, the leaf and bark decoction of monodora myristica is widely used for the treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) either alone or in combination with other plants. The present study is designed to investigate the anti-diabetic effects of m. myristica from leaf and bark aqueous extract in a type 2 diabetes (T2D) model. Monodora myristica commonly known as the calabash nutmeg or African nutmeg, is a tropical tree of the family of Annonaceae plants. The aqueous extract of Monodora myristica were screened for their anti-diabetic activity via inhibition of α-amylase. The leaves and stem bark of Monodora myristica was extracted using an aqueous solution. Results showed that the plant can act as potent α-amylase inhibitor. α-amylase inhibitors from herbal sources offer an attractive therapeutic approach to the treatment of postprandial hyperglycemia by decreasing glucose release from starch and may have potential for use in the treatment/management of diabetes mellitus and obesity. From the results of this study, aqueous extract of monodora myristica bark and leaf showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloid, saponins, tannins, steroids, terpernoids, cardiac glycosides and polyphenols. The phytochemicals presence from the results of this study has the potentials as anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheal and anti-hemorrhoidal compound. It simply shows that monodora myristica plant has usefulness in the pharmaceutical and medical science to make drugs for treatment.