Some Common Medicinal Plants with Antidiabetic Activity, Known and Available in Europe (A Mini-Review)

Abstract

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that affected 9.3% of adults worldwide in 2019. Its co-occurrence is suspected to increase mortality from COVID-19. The treatment of diabetes is mainly based on the long-term use of pharmacological agents, often expensive and causing unpleasant side effects. There is an alarming increase in the number of pharmaceuticals taken in Europe. The aim of this paper is to concisely collect information concerning the few antidiabetic or hypoglycaemic raw plant materials that are present in the consciousness of Europeans and relatively easily accessible to them on the market and sometimes even grown on European plantations. The following raw materials are discussed in this mini-review: Morus alba L., Cinnamomum zeylanicum J.Presl, Trigonella foenum-graecum L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., Zingiber officinale Rosc., and Panax ginseng C.A.Meyer in terms of scientifically tested antidiabetic activity and the presence of characteristic biologically active compounds and their specific properties, including antioxidant properties. The characteristics of these raw materials are based on in vitro as well as in vivo studies: on animals and in clinical studies. In addition, for each plant, the possibility to use certain morphological elements in the light of EFSA legislation is given.

Analysis of malondialdehyde and ferric reducing ability of plasma in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Lucknow city, India

“…The foods of plant origin not only provide us with antioxidant vitamins (e.g., vitamin C, vitamin E, or provitamin A) but also a complex mixture of other natural substances with antioxidant capacity. Some phytochemicals also provide nutrients and antioxidants for protection against oxidative stress [13,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32] which may reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular complications.…”

Polyphenols and Flavonoids Composition, Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Properties of Andean Baccharis macrantha Extracts

“…Many medicinal plants are used in traditional medicine systems, such as the Indian Ayurvedic medicine system, traditional Chinese medicine, and the West Indian and Latin American folk medicine system. A large part of the population in developing countries continues to use ancestral medicines based on medicinal plant extracts [1][2][3][4][5].…”

Oral glucose tolerance test with methanol extract of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. calyces and in silico alpha-amylase inhibition studies with selected calyce phytochemicals

“…As a result people are more prone to visit traditional medicinal practitioners, who use various plants to lessen hyperglycemic conditions in diabetic patients [14] . Anti-diabetic plants, considered beneficial in lowering elevated glucose in blood or alleviating morbidities induced by DM, have been reported from many regions in the world [15][16][17] . These plants can prove useful in the treatment of diabetes in several ways.…”