The number of patients with diabetes mellitus is increasing at an alarming rate and this
situation has triggered the interest of searching natural product as an alternative treatment.
Stingless bee honey containing a diverse array of bioactive compounds is commonly
utilized as a functional food and also found to possess various therapeutic effects
including anti-diabetic through α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition. However, the
composition level of bioactive compounds varying of geographical origins and botanical
sources of honey leads to different enzyme inhibition abilities. Therefore, this study
explored the total phenolic, total flavonoid, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition
activities of stingless bee honey from various botanical origins. In this study, stingless bee
honey was collected from 6 different botanical origins namely, acacia, coconut, mangrove,
starfruit, multifruit and multiflower plant. Honey from tualang tree was used as a positive
control. Phenolic and flavonoid contents as well as α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition
activities of honey were studied spectrophotometrically. Stingless bee honey from
mangrove was found to have the highest phenolic content (141.74±0.03 mg GAE/100 g).
The honey collected from coconut origin showed the highest flavonoid content with the
value of 51.33±0.02 mg RE/100 g and also achieved the highest percentage inhibition
against α-glucosidase (68.33% at 100 µg/mL). Furthermore, tualang honey and honey
samples from mangrove, coconut and Acacia tree were found to have strong α-amylase
inhibition abilities as their inhibition percentages were more than 70.00% at 100 µg/mL.
This study showed that the presence of flavonoid and phenolic compounds in honey from
different botanical origins yielded different degree of α-amylase and α-glucosidase
inhibition and also recommended the uses of stingless bee honey in diabetes treatment.
With improvements in living standards and healthcare, life expectancy has been increasing dramatically in most parts of the world. These situations lead to the increase in the reported cases of geriatrics-related diseases such as hypogonadal osteoporosis with skeletal fracture being the ultimate outcome, which eventually causes significant morbidity and mortality. The deficient gonadal hormones, which are the main cause of hypogonadal osteoporosis, could be substituted with hormone replacement therapy to hinder bone loss. However, the artificial hormonal therapy has been linked to grievous conditions such as breast and prostate cancers. In view of the various adverse effects associated with conventional treatment, many researchers are now focusing on finding alternative remedies from nature. This article explores the possibilities of certain medicinal plants native to Malaysia that possess androgenic and antioxidant properties to potentially be used in the treatment of fracture due to osteoporosis in ageing people.
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