Glucose lowering activity of Coprinus comatus

Agro Food Industry Hi-Tech

The glucose lowering activities of five extracts from the stipe of Caprinus comatus were studied, as were the fruit bodies of C. comatus – separated into stipe and cap, then dried and milled to obtain stipe powder and cap powder. Ethanol extract, water-soluble polysaccharide, alkali-soluble polysaccharide, protein and crude fibre were extracted from stipe powder, and their glucose lowering activities were investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. The seven experimental groups were given an extract, stipe powder or cap powder (300 mg/kg po daily) for 28 days. The results showed that water-soluble polysaccharide presented the best glucose lowering activity in five extracts and it can almost decrease the blood glucose of diabetic mice to a level of normal mice after 28 days. Cap powder was most effective with glucose lowering activity, for its efficacy was evident within 7 days. Therefore, water-soluble polysaccharide of stipe or the cap powder of C. comatus can be developed as potential oral hypoglycemic agents or functional foods in the control of diabetes mellitus.