Abstract

Medicinal plants play an important role in the management of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) especially in developing countries where resources are meager. Averrhoa carambola L. (Family: Oxalidaceae), which is popularly known as the “Star fruit” or “Kamrakh”, has various medicinal uses viz. antipruritic, antipyretic, anthelminthic, anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, antimicrobial etc.. Fruits of A. carambola L. are a very good source of natural antioxidants due to presence of L-ascorbic acid, (-) Epicatechin and gallic acid and are also very rich in dietary fibers, especially insoluble fibers. The present study was carried out to evaluate antihyperglycemic effect of Averrhoa carambola L. fruits in normal and streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. The oral feeding of aqueous slurry of the fruit powder in diabetic rats for 21 days at a dosage of 1000 mg/kg body weight, exhibited a significant (P<0.05) reduction in fasting blood glucose level. Histopathology studies of three vital organs viz. pancreas, liver and kidney showed good recovery when compared to the diabetic control groups. Based on these results, it is evident that A. carambola L. fruits have antihyperglycemic effect and must be considered as a potential candidate for future studies on Diabetes Mellitus (DM).

Keywords

Averrhoa Carambola L. fruit, Antihyperglycaemic, Streptozotocin

Cite This Article

Patil, A. G., Koli, S. P., Patil, D. A., Narayane, V. S., & Phatak, A. V. (2014). Preliminary Studies on Antihyperglycemic Effect of Aqueous Slurry of Averrhoa carambola L. Fruits in Streptozotocin Induced Diabetic Rats. International Journal for Pharmaceutical Research Scholars (IJPRS), 3(1), 684-695.