Download PDF
Planta Med 1995; 61(4): 358-360
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-958100
Letters

© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Characterization of the Hypoglycemic Effects of Trigonella foenum graecum Seed

Laiquat Ali1 , Abul Kalam Azed Khan1 , Zahid Hassan1 , Mohammed Mosihuzzaman2 , Nilufar Nahar2 , Tahmina Nasreen2 , Muhammad Nur-e-Alam1 , Begun Rokeya1
  • 1Research Division, Bangladesh Institute of Research & Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine & Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM), 122 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
  • 2Department of Chemistry, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh
Further Information

Publication History

1994

1995

Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)

Also available at
  PDF Download  Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

The whole powder of Trigonella foenum graecum seeds and its extracts were tested for their hypoglycemic effect on normal and diabetic model rats. The powder, its methanol extract, and the residue remaining after methanol extraction had significant hypoglycemic effects when fed simultaneously with glucose. The water extract of the methanol extractive-free residue of the seed powder showed significant hypoglycemic activity at different prandial states. The Soluble Dietary Fibre (SDF) fraction showed no effect on the fasting blood glucose levels of nondiabetic or NIDDM model rats. However, when fed simultaneously with glucose, it showed a significant hypoglycemic effect (p < 0.05) in NIDDM model rats. Chemical analysis showed that the major constituent of the SDF is a galactomannan. The results confirm the involvement of SDF in the hypoglycemic effect of T. foenum graecum seeds. However, compound(s) other than SDF is (are) also involved in the hypoglycemic activity.