African Journal of
Biotechnology

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Biotechnol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1684-5315
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJB
  • Start Year: 2002
  • Published Articles: 12504

Full Length Research Paper

In vivo evaluation of the hypoglycemic effect of wolf-apple flour (Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil)

Denise Alvarenga Rocha*
  • Denise Alvarenga Rocha*
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Celeste Maria Patto de Abreu,
  • Celeste Maria Patto de Abreu,
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Anderson Assaid Simão
  • Anderson Assaid Simão
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Raimundo Vicente de Sousa
  • Raimundo Vicente de Sousa
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Rodrigo Martins Fráguas,
  • Rodrigo Martins Fráguas,
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Mariana Aparecida Braga
  • Mariana Aparecida Braga
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Jovane Santana Silva
  • Jovane Santana Silva
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Juliana Mesquita Freire
  • Juliana Mesquita Freire
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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Estela de Rezende Queiroz
  • Estela de Rezende Queiroz
  • Chemistry Department, Biochemistry Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras – UFLA, PO Box 3037, Zip Code 37200.000, Lavras, MG, Brazil.
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  •  Received: 05 February 2014
  •  Accepted: 21 July 2014
  •  Published: 06 August 2014

Abstract

The prevalence of diabetes has increased at alarming rates worldwide, and has become a serious health problem in modern society, highlighting the need for adjuvants to assist in its treatment. The starch from wolf-apple is a product extracted from the pulp of the unripe wolf-apple (Solanum lycocarpum A. St.-Hil), which has been used empirically by the population due to various therapeutic effects, among them, its hypoglycemic action. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypoglycemic effect of the administration of wolf-apple starch on diabetic Wistar rats, during five weeks. The animals were randomly divided into three groups: normal control, diabetic control and treated diabetic (received 100 mg/day of wolf-apple flour by gavage), and diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (40 mg/kg rat). The following parameters were evaluated: glycemia, animal weight, food intake, diuresis, water intake and histopathological analyses of liver and pancreas. The results show that the flour presented a hypoglycemic effect of 19.76%, and there was no significant difference in food consumption, water consumption and weight gain among the evaluated groups. On the other hand, the treated diabetic group showed a urine volume significantly higher than the other groups. The treated animals did not show toxicity in the liver and pancreas. It is concluded that the starch from wolf-apple has hypoglycemic potential.

 

Key words: Wolf-apple, flour, hypoglycemic effect, diabetes.

Copyright © 2025 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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