Matured and Young Anacardium occidentale Leaves Extract for Amylase Inhibitor: An Alternative to Antidiabetic

Diabetes Mellitus (DM), commonly known as diabetes, is one of the diseases that recorded high mortality rate. World Health Organization (WHO) reported in 2016, about 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Other studies had reported there were about 387 million diabetic patients globally in 2014. While it is expected that 145 million people with diabetes would be in the South East Asia region and 2.5 million people are in Malaysia in 2025. Based on statistics showed by International Diabetes Federation (IDF) the number of diabetic patients will rise to 700 million by 2045. This study reports on finding a new source of amylase inhibitor that contribute to minimize the percentage of people with diabetic disease in Malaysia generally and Selangor specifically. Matured and young leaves of Anacardium occidentale used in the study were extracted using aqueous extraction method. Ten grams of dried leave was dissolved in 100 ml of distilled. The mixture was filtered using Whatman’s filter paper No. 1. Active compounds extraction from Anacardium occidentale leaves using aqueous method of different concentrations, different incubation periods and different incubation temperature indicated most of the extracted sample from different types of Anacardium occidentale leaves (young and matured) revealed their effectiveness as antidiabetic. Extract from the matured leaves showed its ability to reduce amylase activity from 0.12 U/ml to 0.06 U/ml when it was incubated for 15 minutes. The amylase activity was recorded at 0.053 when it was further incubated for 30 minutes. Nonetheless, the amylase activity remains unchanged when it was further incubated for 45 and 60 minutes. On the other hand, the extract from young leaves revealed there is slight reducing in the amylase activity (0.11 U/ml) for 15 minutes incubation. However, the extract showed its ability to reduce the amylase activity to 0.107 U/ml, 0.085 U/ml and 0.062 U/ml when it was further incubated for 30, 45 and 60 minutes, respectively.  It is anticipated that consuming Anacardium occidentale leaves (Cashew nuts leaves) would enhance the level of healthier community both domestically and globally which is in line with the National Vison Policy 2020 and the 4th National Mission Thrust which both aim at improving the standard and sustainability quality of Malaysians life.