| dc.description.abstract | Diabetes is a chronic, non-communicable, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose which in turn may lead to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Approximately 537 million adults worldwide are living with diabetes and if unattended to, this number could project to 643 million by 2030. Additionally, Diabetes is responsible for 6.7 million of deaths per year. Although various modern approaches have been used to manage the hyperglycemic condition in the diabetic mellitus patients, some reports have indicated that use of herbal preparations remains the only viable preventive, restorative and curative approach. Therefore, in this study, the phytochemicals that exhibit antidiabetic potential were screened for in Solanum anguivi fruits commonly known as katunkuma from central Uganda, after which the antidiabetic potential was evaluated. The phytochemicals were screened from a hydroethanolic extract obtained by solvent extraction and screened using standard qualitative procedures. A laboratory based experimental study using albino rat model was used to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of Solanum anguivi fruits. The results obtained indicated that S.anguivi fruits were composed of flavonoids, saponins, tannins and phenols. The results obtained also demonstrated that there was no significant difference between baseline glucose levels and those obtained at day seven of the experiment (p>0.05). This implies that Solanum anguivi hydroethanolic extract exhibited antidiabetic properties and could act as a potential candidate for the development of antidiabetic remedies in Uganda. It is recommended that further studies should be conducted to purify the potential phytochemicals for use in the development of antidiabetic drugs. Additionally, potencies and safety of these herbal preparations should be evaluated. | en_US |
