Comparative study of sweet and bitter varieties of Aegle marmelos (L.) Correa on hypoglycemic activity in rabbits

Objective: To investigate the hypoglycemic activity of ethanolic extract of leaves of sweet and bitter varieties of Aegle marmelos in normal rabbits. Methods: Albino rabbits were treated with ethanolic extract of leaves of two varieties (sweet and bitter) of Aegle marmelos (250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg, p.o and tolbutamide (40 mg/kg, p.o). Blood samples were collected from marginal ear vein just before and 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16 and 24 h after the commencement of the experiment. Glucose-Oxidase assay method was used for the estimation of blood glucose. Results: Sweet and bitter varieties of Aegle marmelos produced hypoglycemic activity in a dose dependent manner. Sweet variety (250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg) produced maximum percent blood glucose reduction (10.59±0.26, 15.9±0.55) at 6 h. Bitter variety (250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg) produced maximum percent blood glucose reduction (21.96±0.43, 41.68±1.26) at 8 h and continued upto 24 h. Tolbutamide (40 mg/kg) produced maximum percent blood glucose reduction (38.90±0.71) at 6 h. Conclusion: Bitter variety of Aegle marmelos produced greater hypoglycemia than the sweet variety and the difference may be due to the presence of potent bioactive molecules in bitter variety.