Chemical characterization, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of a novel polyherbal formulation comprising of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum extracts

Rabia Iqbal; Iqbal Azhar; Muhammad Nasir Iqbal; Irfan Hamid; Muhammad Zahoor; Muhammad Furqan Akhtar; Zafar Alam Mahmood; Riaz Ullah; Amal Alotaibi

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19292

Chemical characterization, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of a novel polyherbal formulation comprising of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum extracts

Heliyon. 2023 Aug 19;9(9):e19292. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19292. eCollection 2023 Sep.

Authors

Rabia Iqbal¹, Iqbal Azhar¹, Muhammad Nasir Iqbal², Irfan Hamid³, Muhammad Zahoor⁴, Muhammad Furqan Akhtar⁵, Zafar Alam Mahmood¹, Riaz Ullah⁶, Amal Alotaibi⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.
² Medical Officer, Tehsil Head Quarter, PD Khan, Jhelum, Pakistan.
³ Cadson College of Pharmacy, Kharian, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry, University of Malakand, Dir Lower, 18800, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
⁵ Riphah Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Riphah International University, Lahore Campus, Pakistan.
⁶ Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Basic Sciences, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul rahman University, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder. Numerous individual herbs possess anti-diabetic activity. The seeds of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum are traditionally used to manage DM. The ambition of this work was to formulate the poly-herbal granules (PHGs) comprising of these three functional foods and evaluate their in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic potential. The dried seed extracts of Hordeum vulgare, Elettaria cardamomum and Cicer arietinum were used in a ratio of 2.5:1:1 to formulate PHGs by wet granulation method. The ratio of extracts was selected on the basis of traditional phytotherapies popularly used by local Hakeems of Pakistan to achieve glycemic control in diabetic patients resistant to traditional allopathic regime of medicine. The flow properties of developed PHGs were evaluated. The UV-Visible spectroscopic, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and HPLC-DAD of all seed extracts and PHGs were performed. The in-vitro antioxidant DPPH, FRAP, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and Nitric Oxide (NO) scavenging assays were carried out on PHGs. The in-vitro antidiabetic activity of PHGs was investigated by alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase enzyme inhibition activity. The developed PHGs exhibited excellent flow properties. The UV-Vis spectra of all seed extracts and PHGs demonstrated peak at 278 nm showing the presence of flavonoids and phenols. The FTIR spectra confirmed the existence of flavonoids, and phenols along with amines in seed extracts as well as PHGs. The HPLC-DAD test revealed the existence of gallic acid, ascorbic acid, Quercetin-3-(caffeoyldiglucoside)-7-glucoside, Rosmarinic acid, delphinidin-3,5-diglucosides, Kaempferol-3-feruloylsophoroside-7-glucoside and Phloroglucinol in PHGs. The PHGs exhibited IC₅₀ of 51.23, 58.57, 55.41 and 53.13 μg/mL in DPPH assay, FRAP assay, TAC, Nitric oxide scavenging assays respectively. The PHGs also demonstrated IC₅₀ of 49.97 and 36.16 μg/mL in alpha-amylase and in alpha-glucosidase inhibition assays respectively in dose dependent manner. The developed PHGs exhibited an excellent flow property. These exhibit significant in-vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic profile by virtue of flavonoid and phenolic acid derivatives.

Keywords: Antidiabetic; Antioxidant: polyherbal; Cicer arietinum; Elettaria cardamomum; HPLC-DAD; Hordeum vulgare.