FORMULATION DEVELOPMENT AND IN VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIDIABETIC EVALUATION OF ERIOBOTRYA JAPONICA BASED SELF NANO EMULSIFYING DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM Original Article AMRIT PAL SINGH 1 , GOPAL L. KHATIK 2 , VIJAY MISHRA 3 , NAVNEET KHURANA 4 , NEHA SHARMA 4 , MANISH VYAS 1* 1 Department of Ayurveda, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India 144411, 2 Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India 144411, 3 Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India 144411, 4 Received: 11 Mar 2019, Revised and Accepted: 24 May 2019 Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab, India 144411 Email: vymanish@gmail.com ABSTRACT Objective: The aim of the present study was to develop and characterize self-nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) of methanolic extract of Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. (E. japonica) leaves. Further in vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic potential of an optimized batch of SNEDDS was explored. Methods: Oil (Labrafil M 1944 CS), surfactant (Tween 80) and co-surfactant (Transcutol P) were selected on the basis of solubility of the methanolic extract. Twenty-seven batches of SNEDDS were prepared with different compositions of oil, surfactant and co-surfactant. The optimized batch was evaluated for its entrapment efficiency, droplet size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Further, DPPH assay and α-amylase activity were also performed to check the antioxidant and antidiabetic potential of prepared SNEDDS. Results: The optimized design suggested that 10% of Labrafil M 1944CS, 30% of Tween 80 and 60% of Transcutol P could develop SNEDDS with 208 nm mean droplet size, 99.64% drug loading, 0.156 PDI and-6 mV zeta potential. TEM image confirmed the droplet size less than 100 nm and the spherical shape of SNEDDS. In vitro antioxidant and antidiabetic activities of SNEDDS revealed the increased efficacy as compared to that of the ascorbic acid and acarbose, respectively. Conclusion: The optimized batch of SNEDDS was found to improve the antioxidant and antidiabetic efficacy of methanolic extract of E. japonica. Keywords: SNEDDS, Eriobotrya japonica, DPPH, Antidiabetic, Antioxidant © 2019 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijap.2019v11i4.33006 INTRODUCTION Ethnomedicine is the traditional medical practice of indigenous culture that gave remedial and palliative effects of a complex multi-disciplinary system constituting the use of herbs, spirituality and the natural environment, which have the ability to promote the health and healing potential for humanity. Efficacy of ethnomedicines mainly depends on the presence of pharmacologically active phytoconstituents. Moreover, development in the fields of phytochemistry and phytopharmacology has increased exploration of ethnomedicines for their effective biological attributes [1-4]. However, these phytoconstituents are not permeable to the lipid membranes due to the high molecular weight and low rate of absorption, which ultimately affect the bioavailability and efficacy of the drugs. Apart from this, various drawbacks related to the dose, palatability, stability, and toxicity of the phytoconstituents and their formulations have also been reported. Therefore, recent studies based on the nanotechnology and phytopharmaceuticals have suggested the integration of phytoconstituents and nanotechnology because nanocarriers can efficiently carry such phytoconstituents at the desired site of action inadequate concentration and can be helpful to address the associated drawbacks of the phytomedicines [5]. Recently, the development of self-nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for herbal drugs has received a lot of attention as a novel approach to overcome drawbacks associated with plant-based medicines. The SNEDDSs are isotropic and thermodynamically stable mixtures of oil, surfactant (HLB>12) and co-surfactant. The SNEDDS can emulsify spontaneously in situ with the contact of gastrointestinal tract (GIT) fluid. The SNEDDS can be an effective alternative for the plant extracts by taking the benefit of lipophilic nature to overcome their drawbacks related to the poor solubility, bioavailability, absorption, palatability, and instability [5]. Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl. (E. japonica), a traditional medicinal plant used to treat diverse pathophysiological conditions is also consumed as a food product in daily life. Generally, it is used in East Asian countries like Japan, China, Korea, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. In India, it is mainly used in various states including Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh. The traditional healers and Vaidyas use the juice of E. japonica leaves to treat diabetes. The recent studies suggested the diversified pharmacological effects of E. japonica including antidiabetic effect [6], neuroprotection [7], cardiovascular health [8], glucose metabolism [9], anti-obesity [10], bone and joint strength [11], anti-inflammatory [12], hormonal activity [13], effects on peripheral organ systems [14] and anticancer activities [15]. The present study was designed to develop and characterize the SNEDDS based ethnomedicine and explore the improved antioxidant and antidiabetic potential of E. japonica. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials Labrafil M 1944 CS, and Transcutol P were received from the Gattefosse, Mumbai, India as gift samples. Tween 80 and Ethanol were purchased from Loba Chemie (P) Ltd., Mumbai (Maharashtra), India. The double distilled water of USP grade was used throughout the study. The fresh leaves of E. japonica were collected from village Kotla Naudh Singh of district Hoshiarpur (Punjab). The latitude 31.5977701 and longitude 75.8330591 are the geocoordinates of Kotla Naudh Singh village. The leaf sample of E. japonica was authenticated from National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali with NIPER/2018/AS/3 voucher specimen number. Preparation of methanolic extract of E. japonica Leaves of E. japonica were washed with running tap water and shade dried. Coarse powder of shade-dried leaves was prepared for the extraction using Soxhlet apparatus. The coarse powder (25 g) International Journal of Applied Pharmaceutics ISSN- 0975-7058 Vol 11, Issue 4, 2019