In Vitro Carbohydrate Digestibility of Copper Nanoparticulated Bitter Gourd Extract

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a multifunctional disorder characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from increased hepatic glucose production, diminished insulin secretion resulting in impaired insulin action. The intestinal digestive enzymes α-glucosidase and α-amylase play a key role in carbohydrate digestion; one main anti-diabetic approach is to reduce the post prandial glucose level in blood by inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes. Copper nanoparticles prepared by green synthesis from ethanol extract of bitter gourd were investigated for its carbohydrate digestibility efficacy. The assay results of copper nanoparticles showed dose dependent activity against α-amylase enzyme with an IC50 value of 59.89 µg/ml ± 0.01 µg/ml. Similarly dose dependent activity was exhibited by α-glucosidase enzyme by the green synthesized nanoparticles with an IC50 value of 55.79 µg/ml ± 0.16 µg/ml. Therefore, it was suggested that colloidal CuNps could be used as an effective material for treatment of diabetes by controlling blood glucose level.