Alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity of stingless bee honey from Tetragonula biroi and Tetragonula laeviceps

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disease characterized by chronic hyperglycemia in the presence of carbohydrate, fat, and protein metabolism disorder. Diabetes mellitus can be treated by inhibiting the activity of the alpha-glucosidase enzyme that serves to break down carbohydrates into glucose. Honey is known to have many health benefits. This study aims to determine the alpha-glucosidase enzyme inhibitory activity of stingless bee honey from Tetragonula biroi and Tetragonula laeviceps. Stingless bee honey from T. biroi and T. laeviceps with various concentrations (50-1000 ppm) were tested to obtain the IC50 value. Acarbose was used as a positive control. This study was performed by measuring the absorbance of the reaction mixture (phosphate buffer, 4-nitrophenyl α-D-glucopyranoside, α-glucosidase, and sample) using a microplate reader at 410 nm. The results obtained that stingless bee honey from T. biroi and T. laeviceps has a potency to inhibit the activity of the α-glucosidase enzyme. However, the methanol extract of T. laeviceps honey has the highest ability to inhibit the activity of the α-glucosidase enzyme with IC50 values of around 2394.69 ppm. Therefore, some animal testing or more research were needed to investigate the potential of stingless bee honey from T. biroi and T. laeviceps for diabetic treatment.