Inhibitory effect of C. esculenta on a-Amylase and a-glucosidase enzyme activity: A LIBS based study

The present study deals with the evaluation of inhibitory activity of Coloasia esculenta for α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes. Correlation of activity with LIBS based phytoelemental profile of C. esculenta is uniqueness of the study. Varied concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 mg/ml of aqueous extract of C. esculenta were screened for their α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities in vitro. Appreciable α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory efficacies were observed in a concentration dependent manner. C. esculenta showed maximum α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition of 56.92 and 73.85% at 10mg/ml concentration with IC50 value at 6.05 and 6.19 mg/ml respectively. However, standard drug, acarbose showed maximum α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibition of 95.52 and 98.17% at 1 mg/ml concentration with IC50 value at 1.83 and 0.25 mg/ml respectively. LIBS analysis reveals the presence of phytoelements viz. Mg, Ca, K and Na which are well known antidiabetic elements and hence could be responsible for inhibitory activities of both the carbohydrate hydrolyzing enzymes. Thus, it could be stated that, the plausible mechanism for antidiabetic efficacy of C. esculenta in vivo, could be due to its α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzyme inhibition activity and as such it can be explored as a potential candidate for the management of diabetes.