The potential of Mimosa pudica L as an α- glucosidase inhibitor and antioxidant agent

Abstract

Background: The putri malu plant (Mimosa pudica L.) is a South American and Central American native widely distributed throughout Indonesia. Indonesians utilise this plant as a herbal treatment to treat various ailments, including insomnia, acute eye inflammation, stone pee, fever, worms, bronchitis, and herpes.    Objectives: This plant was studied for its antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities using n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and water extracts.     Method: The aerial part of the plant was extracted with methanol and partitioned with n-hexane, dichloromethane (DCM), and ethyl acetate to obtain n-hexane (EHMP) dichloromethane (EDMP), ethyl acetate (EEMP), and water (EAMP) extracts. All extracts were analysed for their α-glucosidase inhibitor and antioxidants with the free radical scavenging activity method using DPPH.     Results: EAMP showed antidiabetic activity with inhibition of 69.9% at a concentration of 500 ppm, and other extracts showed no α-glucosidase inhibition activity. For antioxidant activity, EDMP, EEMP, and EAMP showed relatively high activity with IC50 consecutively 77.4 ppm, 26.9 ppm, and 81.4 ppm, while EHMP had a reasonably low activity with IC50 635.6 ppm.    Conclusion: The study results showed that M. pudica has considerable potential as a source of antidiabetics and natural antioxidants, so it is necessary to isolate secondary metabolites from the species.