Abstract

ORAL GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TESTS WITH NON-BOILED AND BOILED MOMORDICA CHARANTIA FRUITS

Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Sadia Israt Khanom, Sujon Chandra Sarkar and Mohammed Rahmatullah*

ABSTRACT

Background: The fruits of Momordica charantia L. are considered to lower blood glucose levels and as such are consumed in the raw state in Bangladesh. The fruits are also consumed in the cooked form as a vegetable. Since cooking involves boiling or steaming, it was of interest to evaluate antihyperglycemic activity of boiled versus nonboiled fruits. Methods: Antihyperglycemic activity was determined through oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in mice. Results: Administration of methanol extract of non-boiled Momordica charantia fruits (MEMC-NB) at doses of 100 and 200 mg per kg body weight to glucose-loaded mice reduced blood glucose levels by 17.4 and 26.2%, respectively. Methanol extract of boiled fruits (MEMC-B) at the same two doses reduced blood glucose levels by 23.2 and 30.2%, respectively. By comparison, a standard antihyperglycemic drug, glibenclamide, when administered at a dose of 10 mg per kg body weight, reduced blood glucose level by 51.0%. Conclusion: Methanolic extract of fruits of Momordica charantia (MEMC) can be antihyperglycemic in both non-boiled and boiled form. However, boiling induced a higher lowering of blood glucose suggesting that the fruits possibly will be better for diabetic patients when consumed in the cooked form for lowering blood glucose.

Keywords: Antihyperglycemic, Momordica charantia, glibenclamide, OGTT, mice.