PLANTAS MEDICINAIS COMO ALTERNATIVA NO CONTROLE DE DIABETES MELLITUS TIPO 2

Abstract

Diabetes Mellitus is described as a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia, about 537 million people worldwide suffer from this disease, and it gets worse with theCOVID-19 pandemic. The traditional synthetic drugs used cause unwanted side effects, so the search for a natural alternative is essential. Medicinal plants are natural sources of antioxidants and antidiabetic compounds, and may have a hypoglycemic effect. In this context, the objective of this study was to describe which medicinal plants have hypoglycemic effects in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus through a literature review. For that, a table was prepared with the most relevant information of the articles, the collected data were organized through Excel with the dynamic table tool. A total of 132 scientific articles were analyzed on the Scientific Electronic LibraryOnline (SCIELO), Scopus andWeb of Science platforms, published between 2018 and 2021. 107 botanical families and 435 plant species with hypoglycemic effects were found. The most representative medicinal plants were Cinnamomum zeylanicum Blume (true cinnamon), Trigonella foenum-graecum Linnaeus (fenugreek). The most cited families were Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae. Of the articles cited, 89.4%were laboratory experiments, and water and methanol were the most used solvents. The parts of the plants most cited in the consulted articles were the leaf, fruit andstem. 222 phytocompoundswere cited and quercetin was the most representative. Rodents were the most used in laboratory experiments with 68 citations. Many plants with indications for DM have been reported capable of inhibiting -amylase and -glucosidase enzymes and reducing the symptoms of metabolic syndrome.