Study on Extraction and Purification of Gymnemic Acid from Gymnema sylvestre R.Br.

Author(s): Kameswaran Srinivasan* and Karuppan Perumal

Abstract: Gymnema sylvestre R. Br is one the important medicinal plant of India widely used in indigenous medicine in the treatment of diabetes mellitus. The active principle of the drug is complex mixture of Gymnemic acids found in the leaves. Presently there is a huge demand for the plant in national and international market. The recent studies have shown that the extract of Gymnema sylvestre is useful in controlling blood sugar to treat type II diabetes. It increases the insulin producing b-cells of pancreas and significantly reduces the metabolic effects of sugar by preventing the intestine from absorbing the sugar molecules during the process of digestion. The objective of the present investigation was to isolate and characterize the Gymnemic acid from Gymnema sylvestre leaves with different solvent systems like petroleum ether, benzene, and methanol. The defatted leaves were extracted under continuous hot extraction in Soxhlet apparatus with 90% methanol gave the maximum yield of gymnemic acid (42%). Gymnemic acid was purified by preparative chromatographic methods i.e., TLC and HPLC, SDS-PAGE and NMR.

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