Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect HOSTED BY Food Science and Human Wellness 5 (2016) 30–38 Nutritional composition, in vitro antioxidant and anti-diabetic potentials of Breynia retusa (Dennst.) Alston Rajan Murugan, Jaganathan Prabu, Rahul Chandran, Thangarajan Sajeesh, Murugaiyan Iniyavan, Thangaraj Parimelazhagan ∗ Bioprospecting Laboratory, Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India Received 25 June 2015; received in revised form 2 December 2015; accepted 15 December 2015 Available online 29 December 2015 Abstract The present study evaluated the nutritional and total phenolic contents of leaves and fruit of Breynia retusa to study the inhibitory potentials against free radicals, -amylase and -glucosidase enzymes. Proximate composition and anti-nutrient content were investigated in the powdered samples of leaf and fruit. Total phenolic, flavonoid, vitamin C and E contents were measured by spectrophotometric methods. Antioxidant activity was estimated by employing various in vitro assays. The -amylase and -glucosidase inhibitors were studied to determine the anti-diabetic potential of B. retusa. Nutritional composition of fruit showed higher starch, total proteins, total free amino acids and mineral contents as compared to leaves. Anti-nutrient contents of fruit and leaves exhibited a minimum amount of trypsin inhibiting activity and tannin contents. Further, higher contents of total phenolics and vitamin E were found in leaf methanol extracts. The leaf extract also showed higher antioxidant activity in DPPH • , FRAP, metal ion chelating and lipid peroxidation inhibition assays. B. retusa leaf and fruit methanol extracts inhibited -amylase and -glucosidase enzymes. In conclusion, nutritional composition, antioxidant and anti-diabetic activities of B. retusa are suitable and promising for the development as a safe food product or natural additive. © 2015 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Antioxidant; Alpha-amylase; Breynia retusa; Phenolic comounds; Vitamins 1. Introduction Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycaemia leading to a progressive generation of oxidation products derived from glucose. Glucose is oxidized by the transition-metal-dependent reaction to form enediol radical anion that is converted into reactive ketoaldehydes and to superoxide anion radicals. These superoxide anion radicals undergo dismutation to produce hydrogen peroxide radicals and it may lead to production of extremely reactive hydroxyl radicals in the presence of transition metals [1,2]. These reac- tive oxygen species affects the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, electrolytes and water in the human body due ∗ Corresponding author at: Bioprospecting Laboratory, Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641 046, Tamil Nadu, India. Tel.: +91 4222428305; fax: +91 422 2425706. E-mail address: drparimel@gmail.com (T. Parimelazhagan). Peer review under responsibility of Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. to increased oxidative stress. Recent evidences suggest that oxidative stress and changes in the formation of reactive species play major roles in the onset of diabetic complications [3]. Nowadays, several drugs are commercially available and used to treat diabetic complications. However, some of the standard drugs such as sulfonylureas, biguanides and alpha glucosidase inhibitors such as acarbose, glinides and miglitol cause side effects nausea, liver disorders, flatulence, abdominal pain, renal tumours, low blood glucose, dark urine and hepatic injury [4–6]. Therefore, new antioxidant and anti-diabetic drugs from medicinal plants are needed to replace these synthetic drugs. Currently, the consumption of fruits and vegetables has been used worldwide for health benefits because of the presence of nutritive and non-nutritive chemicals from medicinal plants which protect the humans from oxidative stress related disor- ders. Although the wild fruits are nutritious, more consumption of such fruits is hazardous to our body, therefore before eating it must be checked whether it contains any anti-nutritional factors. The anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitors and tannins http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2015.12.001 2213-4530/© 2015 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector