Diabetes mellitus is a major public health problem in the world. In Africa, more than 80% of patients use plants for their treatment. However, the methods of validation of endogenous knowledge usually used are costly. The alternative method developed in this study aims at creating hyperglycemia <i>in vitro</i> and exploiting the metabolic pathway involving glucose oxidase for UV-visible spectrophotometric screening of medicinal plants’ antidiabetic activity. The evolution of glucose oxidation as a function of drug concentration is followed by UV-visible spectrophotometry. The formation of the stable complex between the enzyme and the inhibitor is studied using molecular docking. Drugs used (Gliben) and plant extracts exhibited an <i>in vitro</i> hypoglycemic effect by reducing exponentially, <i>in vitro</i>, the level of free glucose. The results also showed that <i>L. multiflora</i> is more active than <i>V. amygdalina</i> (IC₅₀: 1.36 ± 0.09 mg/mL Vs IC₅₀: 3.00 ± 0.54 mg/mL). Gliben (0.5 mg/mL) and <i>L. multiflora</i> (2 mg/mL) reduced both the rate of oxidation of glucose by glucose oxidase (catalytic power V_max: 0.84 ± 0.11 mg*mL^-1*min^-1 for Gliben and 1.72 ± 0.13 mg*mL^-1*min^-1 for ^{L. multiflora}); and the affinity of this enzyme for its substrate-glucose (K_M: 15.11 ± 2.72 mg*mL^-1 for Gliben and 9.17 ± 1.56 mg*mL^-1 for <i>L. multiflora</i>) when these results are compared to enzyme catalysis in the absence of inhibitor (V_max: 2.86 ± 0.44 mg*mL^-1*min-1; K_M: 8.07 ± 1.96 mg*mL^-1). The binding of GOX (1GAL) to selected phytocompounds derived from <i>L. multiflora</i> was confirmed by molecular docking. The most stable complexes were obtained for four compounds; <b>8</b> (-10.1±0.0 Kcal/mol), <b>6</b> (-9.5±0.1 Kcal/mol), <b>3</b> (-8.3±0.0 Kcal/mol) and <b>9</b> (-8.2±0.1 Kcal/mol). Among these, compounds <b>8</b> and <b>6</b> formed complexes with the enzyme stabilized by hydrogen bonds, the compound <b>8</b> forms 5 hydrogen bonds (<b>ASN514</b>, <b>ASP424</b>, <b>ARG95</b>, <b>TYP68</b>, <b>LEU65</b>) while compound <b>6</b> forms 2 hydrogen bonds (<b>ASN514</b> and <b>SER422</b>). However, no H-bonding interaction occurs in the complex that involves ligands <b>9</b> and <b>3</b> despite their high binding energy (-8.2±0.1 Kcal/mol and -8.3±0.0 Kcal/mol respectively). Glucose oxidase can serve as a marker enzyme for<i> in vitro</i> antidiabetic activity evaluation of medicinal plants.

The purpose of this mini-review was to summarize and update knowledge on the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicity of <i>Cola nitida</i>, with the view of providing baseline data for herbal drug formulation. In January 2021, a non-exhaustive online search of relevant articles was carried out on the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of <i>C. nitida</i> from scientifically well-established databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and SciELO. The plant's scientific name as well as phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, bioactivity and toxicology were used as keywords. The chemical structures of the compounds isolated from this plant were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software. A literature survey has revealed that <i>C. nitida</i> is highly appreciated by African populations in various cultures, especially in West Africa. Phytochemical analyses showed that <i>C. nitida</i> contains interesting compounds like catechin, caffeine, epicatechin, polyphenols, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, bromelain, cardenolides, proanthocyanidins, triterpenes, glycosides, flavonoids, anthraquinones, steroids, anthocyanins, glycosides, alkaloids, etc. The presence of these phyto-compounds in the investigated plant species justifies its used as an antimicrobial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-coagulant agent. Thus, <i>C. nitida</i> could be used as a raw material for manufacturing efficient medication against various diseases, including sickle cell disease.