Antihyperglycemic Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity

Since ancient time phytotherapy has been used as folk medicine to treat various diseases including diabetes mellitus. More than 400 traditional plants treatments for diabetes mellitus have been recorded scientific and medicinal evaluation to assess their efficacy (Bailey and Day 1989). Indigenous medicinal plants are an important component of traditional knowledge. In India the use of medicinal plants as crude drugs dates back to Vedic era. The collection and utilization of drugs by the aboriginal tribes is being practiced since Vedic period. These natural products had been indispensably used by many cultures and traditions in folklore medicines for thousands of years. The use of plants as medicine by traditional people paved the way for the discovery of modern medicines. Ethno pharmacological surveys provide the rationale for selection and scientific investigation of medicinal plants. Today the plant derived compounds play an important role in modern drug discovery (Cragg et al. 1997) estimated that approximately 60-70% of anti tumor and anti-infective agents that are available are of natural origin.