Abstract:
Despite increasing popularity of ethnomedicinal plants in diabetes type 2
management nowadays, indigenous knowledge of their use is often not documented but
rather passed on orally from generation to generation. Thus, the present study was designed
to collect, analyze, document and generate useful information on ethnomedicinal plants
used in management of Diabetes Mellitus Type 2 (DMT2). Materials and Methods: Data
on ethnomedicinal use was collected using guided interviews, tour guides and information
compared with literature search. Model in vitro enzyme inhibition assays were employed to
investigate antidiabetic activity of the plants ethanol/water (60/40) extracts. Shinoda, Mayer
Salkowski test and LC-MS/MS coupled with library search software’s was used to determine
phytochemical composition of the most active extracts. Results: The ethnobotanical survey
identified 30 medicinal plant species belonging to 18 plant families of which 14 (46.7)% are newly
reported here for their claim as anti DMT2 medicine. Among the 30 plant species reported, 10
were very popular with informant consensus factor of ≥60%. The ethanolic/water (60/40) mixture
extract of Zanthoxylum chalybeum, Xeroderris stuhlmannii, Syzygium cordatum and Eureiandra
fasciculate showed the greatest in vitro antidiabetic activity, >70%. The present results shows
that ethnomedicine plays an important part in the management of DMT2 with Zanthoxylum
chalybeum, Xeroderris stuhlmannii, Syzygium cordatum and Eureiandra fasciculate being the most
appraised ethnomedicinal plants. Standard chemical tests and LC-MS/MS analysis showed that
the extracts consist of mostly C-glycosylated flavonoids and to lesser extent O-glycosylated
flavonoids, alkaloids and phenolic acids. Conclusion: The generated results will be important in
the prioritization of the plant species for polyherbal drug formulation and further investigation
