The Entrapment Ability of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extract of Teucrium Polium: Glucose Diffusion into the External Solution

Some plant extracts showed the ability to retard the diffusion of glucose across the dialysis tube. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Teucrium polium (T. polium) on glucose movement across the dialysis tube. The T. polium powder was dissolved in ethanol and distilled water. Then glucose was added to make a final concentration of 0.2 - 0.8 g/l glucose with aqueous or ethanolic extract of Teucrium Polium. Fifteen milliliter of each concentration (0.2 - 0.8 g/l) of glucose was dialyzed against 50 ml of distilled water at 20 (◦)C in a dialysis tubing cellulose membrane (molecular weight cut off = 10000 Da) every 4 h for 24 hours under rotationally shaking. The released glucose was determined by glucose oxidase kit. Aqueous extract of T. polium did not show any significant effect on the glucose movement. But, ethanolic extract of T. polium was found to exhibit a significant stimulation on glucose movement from dialysis tube to the external medium. Our findings suggest the possible importance of other factors besides viscosity in determining the anti- diabetic behavior of T. polium.