Carbohydrate digestive enzyme inhibition, hepatoprotective, antioxidant and antidiabetic benefits of Persea americana

The medicinal use of Persea americana in the treatment of some diseases like hypertension, diabetes, is often with dearth of supporting scientific proof. Thus, we evaluated its ethnomedicinal benefits for possible scientific justification. Thirty healthy Wistar rats were randomly grouped in fives. Alloxan was used to induce diabetes in the rats in groups II to VI. The diabetic rats in group II were treated with glibenclamide, while those in group III were not treated. Also, the diabetic rats in groups IV to VI were treated with the ethanol extracts of the stem bark, leaf, and root of P. americana respectively. The parts of P. americana comparatively possess highest amounts of phenols (250.50 ± 0.68—bark), saponin (436.80 ± 3.76—leaf), flavonoid (382.80 ± 0.67—leaf) and tannins (58.34 ± 0.09—root). The extracts exhibited high reducing property (FRAP and total reducing), as well as high ABTS and DPPH free radical scavenging ability. The enzyme (alpha-glycosidase and alpha-amylase) inhibitory activity of P. americana increases with increasing concentration of the extracts. Administration of methanol extracts of P. americana bark, leaf and root to alloxan-induced diabetic rats resulted in significant (P