Inhibition of α Amylase Activity by some Bacterial and Medicinal Plant Extracts In vitro

Inhibition of carbohydrate digestive enzymes by natural and non-toxic secondary products had less adverse effects than synthetic drugs. This study was aimed to inhibition of α-amylase activity to a significant level by some bacterial and plant extracts which decrease the digestion of carbohydrates, obesity, and diabetes side effects. Bacteria were isolated from soil and fermented milk and the most active isolate in inhibition of α-amylase was selected and identified. Also, more than ten plants were collected, extracted and screened for inhibition of α-amylase. Out of 30 bacterial isolates were tested as inhibitor for α-amylase in vitro, ten isolates showed inhibition of the α-amylase. Furthermore, different aqueous and organic plant extracts were investigated as inhibitors of α-amylase. The active plants in α-amylase inhibition were rosemary, garlic, lepidium, white been, cumin, coffee peel, linseed, green tea, cinnamon, and chili pepper. The isolate Lactobacillus and Streptococcus extracts showed the highest enzyme inhibition compared to the other bacterial isolate while Bacillus sp. had the lowest inhibitory enzyme activity. Also, coffee peel aqueous extracts cause the highest inhibition of α-amylase enzyme and the lowest activity compared to the other plant extracts (70.23%). In addition, it was found that the methanolic extracts rosemary, cumin and green tea completely inhibited the enzyme (100%) while linseed and cinnamon had lower inhibitory activity of α-amylase compared to the other plant extracts (2.38% and 3.57%, respectively). In conclusion, the increase uptake of sugars cause obesity and some plant and bacterial extracts can be used to inhibit α-amylase which treat obesity, and diabetes with minimal side effects.