Conventional Herbal Plants in Modern Periods : The Therapeutic Potential Syzigium cumuni and Hyperglycemia

Conventional herbal medicinal plants have been used from the Vedic era. For thousands of years, they have been used to treat and prevent several types of diseases along with epidemics. Some medicinal plants also utilized as pleasant condiments, to flavor, to dye, for conserve food etc. Almost every portion of the plant has own medicinal characteristics. Different types of secondary metabolites found in the herbal medicinal plants which play a very vital role in many kinds of diseases and also used for manufacturing medicines. A large number of the plants are also reported to possess many other activities like anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-insecticidal, anti-parasitic, antibiotic, anti-hemolytic properties etc, also used widely by the tribal people all over the globe. The conventional herbal medicinal uses of several plants species belonging to different families are reported. Unani manuscripts, Egyptians and Chinese writings described the use of herbs. Indian Vaids and European and Mediterranean cultures were using herbs for over 4000 years as medicine. Indigenous culture such as Rome, Egypt, Iran, Africa and America used herbs in their healing rituals. While other developed conventional medical system such as Unani, Ayurveda and Chinese medicine herbal therapies were used systematically.

Conventional systems of medicine continue to be widely practiced on many accounts like Population rise, inadequate drugs supply, prohibitive cost of treatments. Side effects of several synthetic drugs and development of resistance to currently used drugs for infectious diseases have led to increased emphasis on the use of plant material as a major source of medicine for a wide variety of human ailments. Treatment with medicinal plants is considered very safe with no or minimal side effects.

The genus Syzigium comprises about 1200 species of tropical evergreen trees, mainly originaAncientting and found in Southeast Asia, which belong to the volatile oil-yielding family Myrtaceae. The trees vary in height, the small ones, when bearing numerous flowers, are used in floral displays; those medium in height are the most common and are often used in windbreaks or in orchards when bearing edible fruit; the tall trees are used as timber for construction purposes. All the trees may be used as sources of medicinal compounds. The volatile oils provide antibacterial and antifungal activities leading to treatment of disease and also its avoidance by preservation of the food. Syzigium cumuni is the most popular and widely explored species found in the wild and in cultivation for its multifarious uses, including a broad spectrum of medicinal properties. Important activities include antidiabetic and anticancer properties.

The present review has been primed to describe the existing data on the information on botany, phytochemical constituents, traditional uses and pharmacological actions of Syzigium cumini (L.) Skeels (jambolan). Electronic database search was conducted with the search terms of Eugenia jambolana, S. cumini, jambolan, common plum and java plum. The plant has been viewed as an antidiabetic plant since it became commercially available several decades ago. During last four decades, numerous folk medicine and scientific reports on the antidiabetic effects of this plant have been cited in the literature. The plant is rich in compounds containing anthocyanins, glucoside, ellagic acid, isoquercetin, kaemferol and myrecetin. The seeds are claimed to contain alkaloid, jambosine, and glycoside jambolin or antimellin, which halts the diastatic conversion of starch into sugar. Hence identification of such active compounds is useful for producing safer drugs in the treatment of various ailments including diabetes. The vast number of literatures found in the database revealed that the extracts of different parts of jambolan showed significant pharmacological actions. This book discusses the present status of genetic resource management of jamun in India. Jamun is one of the most hardy fruit crops, and it can easily be grown in neglected and marshy areas where other fruit trees cannot be grown successfully. Vast genetic and species diversity exists in the genus Syzigium in India. Jamun germplasm has been collected from throughout India, especially from the states with sizable diversity, namely, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal, and the Western Ghats region. Characterization and evaluation are important to identify and add value to the germplasm for its further use in crop improvement, as well as to avoid its duplication in germplasm repositories and genebanks. Germplasm conservation of a diverse genus like Syzigium, with several species and vast genetic variability spread over the arid to lower hills of the Himalayas to the Western Ghats and northeast India, is indeed a challenging task, which needs special efforts with dynamic strategies.

In this book, an endeavor has been made to present an overview of contribution of herbal drugs to global market from different countries. Herbal medicinal products are getting global importance because of their health benefits. Their demand is going to increase because of increased interest of consumers in natural products as they are considered safer and more cost effective than synthetic drugs in many occasions. According to World Health Organization (WHO) about 80% population of most developing countries still rely on conventional herbal medicines for their primary health care needs. Overall international trade in medicinal plants and their products was US$ 60 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach US$ 5 trillion by 2050. In Asia, the demand of herbal market had almost doubled during late 1990’s due to increase in population. Global Nutraceuticals Market has been projected to rise at over 8.3% per annum to reach US$ 30 billion in 2015. A large number of food and pharmaceutical companies are active in the field because they consider that the nutraceuticals market has promising growth potential. This shows that there is tremendous demand for herbal products and there is urgent need to maintain standardization of herbal products for its toxicity due to heavy metals, excessive or banned pesticides, microbial contaminants, chemical toxins produced due to unfavourable or wrong storage conditions or chemical treatment due to storage.

The antidiabetic and restorative potential of Syzigium cumuni seed powder was assessed on alloxan monohydrate injected hyperglycemic mice. The blood sugar levels were measured at an interval of 7, 14 and 21 days after the treatment. The Syzigium cumuni seed powder (250 mg/kg) reduced the blood sugar level in normal mice from 86.17±1.88 to 84.86±1.28 mg/dl, after 21days of oral administration of the powder along with their food (P<0.05). It also significantly lowered blood glucose level in alloxan-monohydrate injected hyperglycemic mice from 340.50±3.51 to 130.33 ± 6.53 mg/dl, 21days after oral administration of the seed powder(P<0.05).

Paternally induced hyperglycemia by injecting Alloxan Monohydrate compound lead to deficiency in insulin secretion in male parents followed by offsprings of F1 generation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the restorative effect of Syzigium cumuni on blood glucose i.e. sugar level of F1 male generation obtained when diabetic male mice was mated with normal female. Fixed dose of syzigium cumuni seed powder along with food were fed to F1 male generation. Their blood glucose level were noticed at a regular intermission for a period of three-four weeks.

Syzigium cumuni seed powder reinstate the histoarchitecture of pancreatic \(\beta\) cells and vitalize the secretion of pancreatic insulin in F1 male offsprings.Their blood glucose levels were noticed to recur to normal levels. A significant minimization in the variations or abnormalities in F1 offspring male mice generation were observed.

Hyperglycemia may affect the epigenetic conversions during spermatogenetic process and these epigenetic variations in pancreatic structures cannot be normalized by feeding normal diet insinuating that these variations were genetic and may pass onto more generations through male germ line.

As our life style is now getting techno-savvy, we are moving away from nature,while one cannot escape from nature because  we are part of nature. As herbs are natural products they are free from side effects, are comparatively safe, ecofriendly and locally available.

Traditionally there are lots of herbs for various ailments. Today, these herbal products are the symbol of safey in contrast to the synthetic drugs,that are regarded as unsafe to human beings and environment. Although herbs had been priced for their medicinal, flavonary and aromatic qualities for centuries, these synthetic products of modern age surpassed their importance for a while, however the blind dependence on synthetic drug is over and people are returning to the nature with hope of safety and security. In the present experiment Syzigium cumuni seed powder exhibits antidiabetic effects improving insulin action in the body ,can be widely utilized by the traditional healers for the treatment of various types of diseases especially diabetes and related other complications. The optimum dosage for both conditions need to be established via clinical studies involving human subjects. Before utilization there is a need to ascertain its safety on prolonged consumption on vital organs of the mice, determine the acute, subchronic toxicity level as well as LD 50. These data are important for highlighting the commercial and worldwide use of Syzigium cumuni seed powder as a diabetic prevention and curative natural product The seeds are claimed to contain alkaloid, jambosine, and glycoside jambolin or antimellin, which halts the diastatic conversion of starch into sugar (.Akbar 2020). Syzigium stimulates the secretion of pancreatic insulin and restore the architecture of the pancreatic \(\beta\) cell in diabetic experimental animal cells (Sharma et al.,2011; Sharma et al.,2008). It has inhibitory activity on \(\alpha\) amylase sucrase, and \(\alpha\) glucosidase ( Ahmed et al.,2009) enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism, while improvement in the activity of glucose 6 phosphatase, hexokinase; enzymes involved in glucose homeostasis, was noted (Sharma B, et al.,2008). S. cumini seed powder is found to upregulate the peroxisome proliferator activated receptors, which might attribute to its anti diabetic properties (Sharma et al.,2008).

Conclusions: From the study we conclude that convetional herbal plants have a very versatile life style. Every part of the plant is serving as a boon for all living ones all over the universe. In my experimental work, these conventional herbal medicinal plants especially Syzigium cumuni studied for the treatment of hyperglycemia diseases of male swiss albino.

The antidiabetic and restorative potential of Syzigium cumuni seed powder was assessed on alloxan monohydrate injected hyperglycemic mice through experiments. First experiment was measurement of the blood sugar levels of alloxan induced hyperglycemic and Syzigium cumuni seed powder fed mice, at regular intervals. A significant reduction in blood glucose level in alloxan-monohydrate injected hyperglycemic mice were observed.

Second experiment was to evaluate the restorative effect of Syzigium cumuni on blood glucose i.e. sugar level of F1 male generation (which was found to be lower when compared with the offsprings obtained from the normal parents) when diabetic male mice  mated with normal female. Fixed dose of syzigium cumuni seed powder along with food were fed to F1 male generation. Their blood glucose level were noticed at a regular intermission for a period of three-four weeks. Syzigium cumuni seed powder reinstate the histoarchitecture of pancreatic \(\beta\) cells and vitalize the secretion of pancreatic insulin in F1 male offsprings. Their blood glucose levels were noticed to recur to normal levels. A significant minimization in the variations or abnormalities in F1 offspring male mice generation were observed.

Thus these experiments are important for highlighting the commercial and worldwide use of Syzigium cumuni seed powder as a diabetic prevention and curative natural product by establishing the optimum dosages via clinical studies, it could be fruitful for  human subjects especially poors and needy.