Evaluation of Antidiabetic and Antioxidant Activities of Fruit Pulp Extracts of Cucurbita moschata Duchesne and Cucurbita maxima Duchesne

Objective. To evaluate and compare the antidiabetic and antioxidant activities of fruit pulp extracts from Cucurbita moschata (PCMOS) and Cucurbita maxima (PCMAX). Methods. The antidiabetic activity was carried out in vivo by orally and daily giving the extracts at a dose of 500 mg/kg·b.w. to the streptozotocin-induced diabetic male albino Wistar rats for six weeks. After the period of administration, blood glucose levels, body weight, serum insulin, morphology of islets of Langerhans, biochemical parameters, and haematological values of the rats were determined. Meanwhile, the antioxidant activity was carried out in vitro by determination of total phenolic and flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, and ferric reducing antioxidant power. Results. PCMAX significantly (p