EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF FICUS CAPENSIS LEAF EXTRACT ON α-AMYLASE AND α-GLUCOSIDASE ENZYME ACTIVITY

Medicinal plants have been generally employed as sources of natural drugs for decades. The α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzyme activities were assayed using standard methods. F. capensis leaves were harvested, washed, dried to constant weight, and ground to a coarse powder. The leaf extracts were prepared by soaking 100 grams of the dried powder in 1000 ml of ethanol or methanol for 72 hours with gentle stirring. Each was filtered and filtrates evaporated to dryness. The residues were dissolved in 0.02M Na phosphate buffer (pH 6.9) and used as stock solutions (10mg/ml) of ethanol and methanol extracts, respectively. The results showed both ethanol and methanol extracts exhibited potent inhibition of α-amylase (IC50 of 1.71 ± 0.04 mg/ml and 1.66 ± 0.007 mg/ml respectively) and α-glucosidase (IC50 of 0.91± 0.01 mg/ml and 1.01± 0.02 mg/ml respectively). Statistical analysis at (p