| Popis: |
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is commonly known as methi and used as a regular spice and leafy vegetable in India. It attracted the attention of researchers’ world over due to the structural diversity of chemicals present in it and a plethora of their pharmacological activities. It has been proved to be effective in treating metabolic disorders, analgesia and arthritis, inflammation, gastric ulcers, and having cytotoxic activity against a number of cancer cell lines. Trigonelline, 4-hydroxyisoleucine, diosgenin, and galactomannans exhibited strong anti-diabetic, anti-hyper-lipidemic, analgesic, and anti-cancer activities. Commercial processes and scale up methods were developed to prepare extracts rich in the above constituents. It is really amazing to note that diosgenin, which has been commercially used as the starting material for the synthesis of various steroid drugs, emerged as a molecule effective on breast, colon, and liver cancers. The analgesic and anti-pyretic activities of fenugreek are worth further studies as very few plants have this type of activity. 4-hydroxyisoleucine is a unique amino acid which is not found in many plants. Its anti-diabetic activity by sensitizing insulin, increasing insulin secretion, is amazing as this would render fenugreek’s anti-diabetic activity multipronged. Similarly, trigonelline, the alkaloid present in fenugreek seeds has strong anti-diabetic and analgesic activity. Sugaheal, a standardized fenugreek seed extract (rich in 4- hydroxy isoleucine and Trigonelline) is available in the market as an antidiabetic herbal medicine. Fenfuro, a standardized extract of fenugreek with high concentration furostan saponins is also effective in diabetes. The water soluble fiber rich in galactomannans has anti-diabetic, lipid-lowering activities. Thus every chemical/group of chemicals present in fenugreek and its chemical ingredients have potent pharmacological activities. More focused approach and co-ordinated efforts from national and international scientific and medical research community and pharmaceutical entrepreneurs are expected to bring out therapeutically potent products from this spice. |
