Discovering and Development of Antidiabetic Drugs from Natural Sources: An Essential Dietary Legume in Indian Culture is the Pigeon Pea (Cajanus cajan L.)

A wide variety of secondary metabolites are produced by plants as a kind of protection against environmental stress or other causes like pest infestations, wounds, and injuries. Pulse crops have a long history of being valued for their nutritional value and health-promoting qualities, including their outstanding protein, fibre, and carbohydrate content as well as their ability to manage obesity, decrease cholesterol, and prevent type 2 diabetes.

In this book chapter, I have discussed about the antihyperglycemic potential of Cajanus cajan leaves in different solvent extracts on alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Among the four solvent extracts tested, namely petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanol extract, two extracts, i.e ethyl acetate and methanol extract, lowered blood glucose levels by 27.09 and 37.68%, respectively, in diabetic mice after daily oral administration for 10 days at a dose of 250 mg/kg. Glibenclamide (0.4mg/kg) reduced blood sugar levels by 30.57% during the same treatment period. These two extracts also increased insulin action. While insulin alone resulted in a 32.66% decrease in blood sugar. Blood sugar dropped by 48.14% and 43.07%, respectively, after the extract of methanol and ethyl acetate were administered simultaneously. The extract did not exhibit any fatality or toxic symptoms at a dose of 2000 mg/kg in an acute toxicity trial (OECD recommendations), and as a result, C. cajan extracts are regarded as safe. The active fractions' RP-HPLC profiles were completed; these profiles will be useful in the future for identifying the bioactive elements.