Context: Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels (Myrtaceae), commonly known as jamun, is an Indian plant, traditionally well known for its medicinal properties including antidiabetic activity. Objective: To isolate the antidiabetic compounds from Syzygium cumini seeds and evaluate their activity using aldose reductase (AR) and protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibition assays.
Materials and methods:The dried seeds were extracted with methanol and partitioned with ethyl acetate, butanol, and water. The extracts were screened for antidiabetic activity at a concentration of 100 mg/mL using in vitro AR and PTP 1B inhibition assays. Results and discussion: The highly enriched fractions obtained from broad ethyl acetate fraction yielded maslinic acid (1), 5-(hydroxymethyl) furfural (2), gallic acid (3), valoneic acid dilactone (4), rubuphenol (5), and ellagic acid (6). Structures were elucidated by 1 H-NMR and 13 C-NMR. The initial ethyl acetate fraction showed AR inhibitory activity with the IC 50 value of 2.50 mg/mL and PTP1B enzyme inhibition with the IC 50 value of 26.36 mg/mL. Compounds 3, 4, 5, and 6 were found to inhibit AR with IC 50 values of 0.77, 0.075, 0.165, and 0.12 mg/mL while the compounds 4, 5, and 6 inhibited PTP1B with IC 50 values of 9.37, 28.14, and 25.96 mg/mL, respectively.
Conclusion:The results of this study demonstrate that the isolated constituents show promising in vitro antidiabetic activity and, therefore, can be candidates for in vivo biological screening using relevant models to ascertain their antidiabetic activity.