Pharmacological and analytical aspects of gymnemic acid: a concise report

Gymnema sylvestre(G. sylvestre) (Asclepiadaceae) commonly known as ‘Gudmar’ in Hindi is an important medicinal plant (Climber) used in different systems of medicine as a remedy for the treatment of diabetes, rheumatism, cough, ulcer, jaundice, dyspepsia, constipation, eyes pain and also in snakebite. The major phytoconstituents of gymnema sylvestra are gymnemic acids, gudmarin and saponins[1]. Gymnemic acid [(C43H68O14) (Figure 1)] is a pentacyclic triterpenoid main active phytoconstituents of G. sylvestre, exhibiting potent antidiabetic activity. Gymnemic acids show different physiological activities like they suppress taste sensitivity to sweetness, lower plasma glucose and insulin levels in the diabetic subjects and inhibit intestinal glucose absorption. Few reports about molecular interaction of Gymnemic acid with proteins is also found in the literature[2, 3]. More than 20 different types of gymnemic acid are found in the leaves of G. sylvestre. Among all, Gymnemic acid 1 has the highest anti-sweet properties. It suppresses the sweetness of most of the sweeteners including aspartame and thaumatin (sweet protein)[4].