Ayurvedic dietary formulations and postprandial glycemia in rats

Two dietary formulations were prepared according to the prescriptions made for diabetic people in Ayurvedic classics. One formulation was prepared with barley, brown rice and Bengal gram and parched grains of these food grains were used to prepare second formulation. These formulations were evaluated for their postprandial glycemic effect in rats and were compared with a dietary formula containing mixture of commonly used modern dietary food grains (wheat, polished white rice and pigeon pea). Methanolic extract of these formulations were evaluated for antioxidant activities applying multiple in vitro test methods. It was observed that time dependent increase in the postprandial blood glucose levels of rats up to two hours as well as over all postprandial glycemic loads induced by Ayurvedic dietary formulations were significantly less than the mixture of modern dietary food grains and starch. Total polyphenolic content in the extract of Ayurvedic dietary mixtures and protein content in constituent food grains were higher than the comparative modern dietary food grains. Free radicals scavenging activities, reducing powers as well as antioxidant activity in two Ayurvedic dietary formulations were superior to modern dietary mixture’s extract. A SDS-PAGE based protein fingerprint of these formulations was also prepared to identify genuine food grains and standardize dietary preparations. This is the first report of its kind that evaluated and compared postprandial glycemic effect, antioxidant activities of Ayurvedic dietary formulations with mixture of modern dietary food grains and provides protein fingerprint as a quality control tool for identification of genuine food ingredients and standardize the finished product.