Abstract
For thousands of years, plants and herbs have been a tremendous source of food and medicine.
Sida acuta, a shrub belonging to Malvacea family, is widely distributed in pan tropical areas and
it has many folk medicine applications that vary from one region to another. The plant has been
revealed to contain phytochemicals such as tannin, flavonoids, saponins, phenols, oxalate,
alkaloid, phytate, terpenoids and glycosides. Sida acuta has been scientifically studied for its
numerous pharmacological profiles such as: antioxidant, antimicrobial and antibacterial,
antimalarial, cardiovascular, antiulcer, analgesic and anti-inflammatory, antipyretic,
hepatoprotective, anticancer and its antidiabetic properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate
the potential in vitro antidiabetic activities of the ethanol extract of Sida acuta on alpha-amylase
and alpha-glucosidase enzymes. The inhibition of these enzymes is crucial for the management of
hyperglycemia. In this study, the inhibitory activities of the standard (acarbose) (8.59 µg/ml) in
comparison with the extract (7.47 µg/ml) on alpha-amylase was observed to be higher. Similarly,
the standard (acarbose) also inhibited alpha-glucosidase enzyme better (11.02 µg/ml) than the
extract (9.46 µg/ml). The inhibitory properties displayed by the ethanol extract of Sida acuta
suggest that it could be considered a good therapeutic agent for the management of diabetes
mellitus.
