European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

A REVIEW OF INSULIN LEAF ACTIVITY: POTENTIAL ANTI DIABETIC AGENT

Krishna Kumar, N*., Kandasamy, C. S., Hariprasad. R., Shalavudeen Mohamed Akbar, S., Jegadeesh, S., Venkatanarayanan, R.

ABSTRACT

Insulin plant, Costus igneus Nak and Costus pictus D. Don. It is a perennial, upright, dispersion plant reaching about two feet tall, with spirally arranged leaves and attractive flowers. In southern India, it usually grows as an ornamental plant and its leaves are used as a dietary supplement in the treatment of diabetes mellitus and it generally known as Spiral flag. freshly, a number of researches have been carried out to evaluate the anti-diabetic potential of this plant. Besides, it has been proven to possess various pharmacological activities like hypolipidemic, diuretic, antioxidant, anti-microbial, anti-cancerous. Further, various phytochemical investigations reveal the presence of carbohydrates, triterpenoids, proteins, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroid, and appreciable amounts of trace elements. This work is an attempt to compile and explore the different pharmacological and phytochemical studies reported till date.

Keywords: Anti-diabetic activity, Insulin plant, Costus igneus Nak, diabetes mellitus.