Buckwheat extracts rich in flavonoid aglycones and flavonoid glycosides significantly reduced blood glucose in diabetes mice

Abstract

Plant flavonoids have various physiological functions beneficial to human health, but their content in plants is not high and usually exists in form of flavonoid glycosides with low bioavailability. This study used ultrasonic assisted ethanol extraction to extract flavonoids from common and tartary buckwheat, the total flavonoid content increased significantly. After treated with β-glucosidase, flavonoid aglycones of common and tartary buckwheat increased by 27.51 % and 29.58 % respectively. Blood glucose of diabetic mice was significantly reduced by 38.20–47.20 % after receiving extracts for 4 weeks, of which tartary buckwheat extract treated with β-glucosidase had the best efficacy (47.20 %), which was 94.70 % of metformin hydrochloride group. The extracts could effectively restore serum and liver biochemical indicators and organ index, which may be related to regulating IRS-1/PI3K/AKT-1/mTOR and PI3K/AKT-1/GSK-3β signaling pathways. Our findings suggested that buckwheat extracts rich in flavonoid aglycones and glycosides could significantly improve hypoglycemic effect and alleviate insulin resistance in T2DM.

Keywords

• Buckwheat
• Flavonoid glycosides
• Flavonoid aglycones
• β-Glucosidase, Hypoglycemic effect
• Insulin resistance