In vitro Antidiabetic Effect of Saponins and Phenolic Extracts from Fruits and Seeds of Algerian Cypress Tree: Cupressus sempervirens L

Background: In this study, we investigate the inhibitory effects of phenolic and saponins extracts of Cupressus sempervirens cones and seeds. Objective: The ethyl acetate and butanolic extracts of Cupressus sempervirens (L) cones and seeds, collected from Laghouat (Algeria) were analyzed for their saponins and phenolic content. We also studied the in vitro antidiabetic activity of C. sempervirens using α-amylase digestion enzyme. Methods: The amount of total phenolics and saponins in the samples was determined with the Folin- Ciocalteu reagent and with vanillin, respectively. To identify cones and seeds extracts with inhibitory capacities, we have studied the effects of ours extracts on the kinetics catalyzed of α-amylase an enzymes belonging to the class of hydrolase responsible for the digestion and we have subjected our extracts to inhibition assay to determine the inhibition percentage for each extract. Results: The fruits and seeds contained total free phenolic content of 1.96 mg/gGAE and 2.25 mg/gGAE, respectively. The saponin content determined with vanillin reagent shows a good yeild of 119.85 and 131.46 mg/gDE in ethyl acetate and butanolic extracts, respectively. In addition, phenolic and saponins extracts were found to inhibit enzymatic activity of α-amylase under in vitro starch digestion bioassay and the values of the IC50 constants have been determined for both seeds and cones extracts. The values ranged from 0.49 to 1.12 mg/ml. This paper is the first report on antidiabetic activity of saponins and phenolic extracts of cones and seeds from Cupressus sempervirens (L).