Evaluación de la actividad antioxidante e hipoglucemiante in vitro de la combinación de extractos etanólicos de Marco (Ambrosia arborescens), Quishuar (Buddleja incana) y Cedrón (Aloysia citrodora)

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a chronic disease characterized by the high amount of glucose present in the blood, causing hyperglycemia in the patient. One of the factors involved in the progressive development and complications of the disease is the cellular damage produced by the excess of free radicals present in the body. Plants present a great variety of biological properties, conferred by the compounds they possess, such as antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity, given mainly by phenols and flavonoids present in the plant matrix. Therefore, these molecules are studied as alternatives in the treatment of hyperglycemia. This study evaluates the antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity of four combinations of ethanolic extracts of Marco, Quishuar and Cedron. Phenols and flavonoids were quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteu method and the aluminum chloride method. Then, antioxidant and hypoglycemic activity was evaluated by the DPPH method and enzymatic assays with α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes. The combination with the highest biological activity was microencapsulated with maltodextrin and a combination of maltodextrin and gum arabic. The Marco-Quishuar (MQ) and Quishuar-Cedron (QC) combinations presented a higher content of the mentioned metabolites. The MQ combination presented a greater inhibition of the DPPH radical and of the α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes; therefore, this combination was microencapsulated. By means of infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), the efficiency of the microencapsulation was analyzed. Finally, the combination without microencapsulation exhibited better biological activity.