Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is a serious global health problem characterized by hyperglycemia which is caused by absolute or relative deficiency of insulin or by insulin resistance at the cellular level. The aim of this study was to investigate the antidiabetic potential of the methanol stem bark extract of A. grandiflora in albino rats. The phytochemical analysis, alpha amylase and alpha glucosidase inhibitory activities as well as glucose concentrations were determined using standard methods. Twenty albino rats were randomly divided into five groups of four rats each in which group 1 was the normal control, group2 was induced with diabetes and not treated, group 3 was induced and treated with glibenclamide, group 4 and 5 were induced and treated with the extract (100 and 200mgk-1 respectively), all for 15 days and blood glucose concentration was checked on three days intervals using a glucometer by cutting the tip of the tail. Result shows presence of phenolic, carbohydrates and tannins in large amounts, flavonoids in moderate amounts while steroids, saponins, terpenes, anthraquinones and cardiac glycosides, were absent. The standard drugs Glibenclamide (98.06%) and Metformin (96.77%) showed higher percentage alpha amylase inhibition activities compared to the A. grandiflora extract. The 5.0mg concentration of the sample showed (79.53 %) inhibition. There was significant (p