Triterpenes as uncompetitive inhibitors of α-glucosidase from flowers of Punica granatum L.

The α-glucosidase and maltase inhibitory effects of Punica granatum L. flowers (PGF) were investigated. The methanol extract (PGFMe), n-hexane extract (PGFH), chloroform extract (PGFC) and the remaining water fraction (PGFW) were assayed for their α-glucosidase and maltase inhibitory effects. PGFW showed potent α-glucosidase inhibition with IC₅₀ of 0.8 μg/mL followed by PGFMe (IC₅₀ of 4.0 μg/mL) then PGFC (IC₅₀ of 5.21 μg/mL) in comparison to acarbose (0.9 μM). Due to its selectivity towards α-glucosidase, PGFC was subjected to bioactivity-guided isolation of its main active constituents. Five known compounds (1-5) were identified as β-sitosterol (1), oleanolic acid (2), ursolic acid (3), p-coumaric acid (4) and apigenin (5). Ursolic and oleanolic acids showed potent α-glucosidase inhibition (IC₅₀ of 39.0 and 35.0 μM, respectively), while they did not show significant maltase inhibition. Kinetic study using the double Lineweaver-Burk plot revealed that ursolic acid uncompetitively inhibited α-glucosidase in comparison with acarbose as a competitive inhibitor.