Abstract:
Gymnema lactiferum var. lactiferum is a twining plant which belongs to the
family Asclepiadaceae (milk weed family). This plant is distributed in many
South Asian countries including, Assam, Malay Peninsula, Malaysia and Sri
Lanka. It is reported that G. lactiferum leaf powder is used popularly by the
people in Jaffna, as a treatment for diabetes. The present study indicates that
the leaf powder does not result in a significant reduction of FBS (p=O.64) or
serum total cholesterol Levels (p=0.49) when tested with normo-gLycaemic
Wistar rats following feeding for 4 weeks. Further the leaf extract did not
produce any significant effect on blood glucose levels on the glucose
challenge (p=O.26) in the normo-glycaemic Wistar rats.
