Gastrointestinal Enzymes Inhibitors from Medicinal Herbs and Food Plants as Therapeutic Pharmacophores for the Management of Diabetes

It is a known fact that carbohydrates are the core constituents of the human diet which consist mainly of complex sugars (starch ~60%), and disaccharides (sucrose ~30%). These complex carbohydrates cannot be absorbed unless they are first broken down by gastrointestinal enzymes (amylases, glycosidase and lipases) before they can be transported through the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract into the circulatory system. α-Amylase is present in both salivary and pancreatic intestinal secretions for hydrolyzing starch and large malto-oligosaccharides to maltose, which is further broken down by α-glucosidase to glucose prior to absorption in the small intestine