Ash gourd (Benincasa hispida (Thunb.) Cogn.) juice as an α-glucosidase inhibitor and its spray-dried juice properties

The ash gourd (AG) is a popular vegetable used widely for anti-diabetic and anti-obese properties. In the current investigation, the juice of AG pulp was screened for α-glucosidase inhibition. The result showed that the AG juice exhibited α-glucosidase inhibition in the range of 0.46 ± 0.00 to 1.61 ± 0.00 mg/mL as against standard drug acarbose showing inhibition at 0.17 ± 0.56 mg/mL. The study demonstrated that the AG juice may act as an effective, moderately potent inhibitor of α-glucosidase. These results indicate the presence of phytochemicals in AG juice that contribute as α-glucosidase inhibitors. This paper also discusses AG juice powder developed by spray drying with maltodextrin (MD) and gum arabic (GA) as anticaking agents. We observed that the spray-dried juice retained the α-glucosidase inhibition property. It was observed that the powder properties were better with AG juice in combination with MD, whereas AG juice with GA showed better α-glucosidase inhibition. Total polyphenol [19.15 ± 2.03 mg gallic acid equivalent/g (GAE/g)] and flavonoid [16.71 ± 1.5 mg quercetin equivalent/g (QE/g)] content were more in spray-dried powder containing GA.