IN VITRO α -GLUCOSIDASE INHIBITORY ACTIVITY OF FOUR MEDICINAL PLANTS FROM BOUAFL E, COTE D IVOIRE: INFLUENCE OF PLANT SPECIES AND EXTRACTION PROCEDURE

This preliminary study compared the in vitro α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Bersama abyssinica, Flacourtia flavescens, Pouteria alnifolia and Sapium ellipticum from Bouaflé, Côte d’Ivoire, using decoction, aqueous maceration and ethyl acetate maceration. Extracts were tested at final concentrations of 50, 125, 250 and 500 ug/mL against α-glucosidase from the digestive juice of Archachatina ventricosa using a sucrose/DNS spectrophotometric assay at 540 nm. At 500 µg/mL, F. flavescens showed the highest inhibition with ethyl acetate (63.72 ± 0.78%), followed by aqueous maceration (58.84 ± 0.94%), while B. abyssinica aqueous extract and S. ellipticum decoction reached 57.97 ± 1.25% and 52.21 ± 1.56%, respectively. P. alnifolia exhibited very weak activity (≤0.88%). Approximate graphical IC50 values were 273.47 µg/mL for F. flavescens (ethyl acetate), 278.15 µg/mL (aqueous maceration) and 416.28 µg/mL for S. ellipticum decoction. The reported LSD comparisons classified the twelve plant - extraction combinations into three activity groups; differences among species and extraction procedures are interpreted descriptively because plant species was not included as a separate factor in the original ANOVA model. No reference inhibitor was used, and the enzyme was a crude non mammalian preparation. These finding support further phytochemical and mechanistic investigations, although they do not establish in vivo antidiabetic efficacy.