Extracts of Withania coagulans, Paneer dodi, an herb used in traditional Indian medicine, has long-been claimed as a treatment option for diabetes. Only recently have researchers found that herbal extracts packaged in polymers derived from natural substances can reduce the blood glucose levels of diabetic mice.
Many plant extracts are bitter and unpalatable. They plant extracts, when taken orally, are often destroyed by the acidic conditions of the stomach. Say Chye Joachim Loo and his colleagues extracted plant steroid compounds from the berries of W. coagulans and encapsulated them in chitosan nanoparticles made from shellfish exoskeletons and coated the particles with starch. This delayed the release of the extract. Mice fed the nanoparticles for 5 days showed about 40% lower blood glucose levels.
Reference:
Sampathkumar, K., Riyajan, S., Tan, C. K., Demokritou, P., Chudapongse, N., & Loo, S. C. J. (2019). Small-Intestine-Specific Delivery of Antidiabetic Extracts from Withania coagulans Using Polysaccharide-Based Enteric-Coated Nanoparticles. ACS Omega, 4(7), 12049–12057. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b00823
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