Phytochemical screening and pharmacological activities of the crude ethanolic extracts of Trigonella foenum-graecum L.
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Trigonella foenum-graecum L., or fenugreek, is a plant belonging to the Fabaceae family. It has a history of being used in food and medicinal plants since ancient times. This study is a preliminary study on the phytochemicals and pharmacological activities of the Indian fenugreek seeds used in Thailand. The results showed that the ethanolic crude fenugreek seed extract had various phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds, saponins, and tannins. The concentration was 0.48±0.03 mg/mL of this crude extract, which inhibited 50% of the lipase enzyme but did not inhibit alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase. In addition, the concentration of crude extract of fenugreek seed was not toxic to RAW 264.7 macrophages, with survival percentages ranging from 93.90±2.11 to 110.37±2.75, and the crude extract of fenugreek seeds had anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting nitric oxide formation. The crude extract suppressed nitric oxide generation in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 mg/mL, with no significant differences observed among these three doses (p>0.05). The inhibition percentages were 20.00±3.85, 25.16±2.58, and 24.30±3.94, respectively. The anti-inflammatory efficacy of the crude fenugreek seed extract was comparable to that of triamcinolone acetonide at concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, and 1 mg/mL, with no statistically significant differences (p>0.05). The data in this study indicate that the Indian fenugreek seeds used in Thailand can further develop as a medicinal or dietary supplement.
Article Details
References
Petropoulos GA, editor. Fenugreek: the genus Trigonella. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press; 2002.
Meghwal M, Goswami TK. A review on the functional properties, nutritional content, medicinal utilization and potential application of fenugreek. J Food Process Technol. 2012;3(9):1-10.
Nagulapalli Venkata KC, Swaroop A, Bagchi D, Bishayee A. A small plant with big benefits: fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum Linn.) for disease prevention and health promotion. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2017;61(6):1600950.
Salehi Surmaghi MH. Medicinal plants and herbal therapy. 1st ed. Tehran: Tehran University Publication; 2008. (in Persian)
Bahmani M, Shirzad H, Mirhosseini M, Mesripour A, Rafieian-Kopaei M. A review on ethnobotanical and therapeutic uses of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graceum L). J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med. 2016;21(1):53-62.
Dini M. Scientific name of medicinal plants used in traditional medicine. 1st ed. Tehran: Forest and Rangeland Research Institute Publication; 2005. (in Persian)
Thairath. Luksad: an ancient herb [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2025 Apr 2]. Available from: https://www.thairath.co.th/news/local/1493508. (in Thai)
Max B. This and that: the essential pharmacology of herbs and spices. Trends Pharmacol Sci. 1992;13(1):15-20.
Srinivasan K. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum): a review of health beneficial physiological effects. Food Rev Int. 2006;22(2):203-24.
Morcos SR, Elhawary Z, Gabrial GN. Protein-rich food mixtures for feeding the young in Egypt 1. Zeitschrift für Ernährungswissenschaft. 1981;20(4):275-82.
Varshney H, Siddique YH. Medicinal properties of fenugreek: a review. Open Biol. 2023;11(2023): e187503622302220.
Alu'datt MH, Rababah T, Al‐ali S, Tranchant CC, Gammoh S, Alrosan M, et al. Current perspectives on fenugreek bioactive compounds and their potential impact on human health: a review of recent insights into functional foods and other high value applications. J Food Sci. 2024;89(4):1835-64.
Wani SA, Kumar P. Fenugreek: a review on its nutraceutical properties and utilization in various food products. J Saudi Soc Agric Sci. 2018;17(2):97-106.
Yao DN, Zhang BY, Zhu JF, Zhang QR, Hu YJ, Wang SP, et al. Advances on application of fenugreek seeds as functional foods: pharmacology, clinical application, products, patents and market. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2020;60(14):2342-52.
Xie WD, Zhao YN, Zhang YO. Traditional Chinese medicines in treatment of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011(1):726723.
Kan JT, Velliquette RA, Grann K, Burns CR, Scholten J, Tian F, et al. A novel botanical formula prevents diabetes by improving insulin resistance. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017;17(1):352.
Galicia-Garcia U, Benito-Vicente A, Jebari S, Larrea-Sebal A, Siddiqi H, Uribe KB, et al. Pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Int J Mol Sci. 2020;21(17):6275.
Naicker N, Nagiah S, Phulukdaree A, Chuturgoon A. Trigonella foenum-graecum seed extract, 4-hydroxyisoleucine, and metformin stimulate proximal insulin signaling and increase expression of glycogenic enzymes and GLUT2 in HepG2 cells. Metab Syndr Relat Disord. 2016;14(2):114-20.
Uemura T, Hirai S, Mizoguchi N, Goto T, Lee JY, Taketani K, et al. Diosgenin present in fenugreek improves glucose metabolism by promoting adipocyte differentiation and inhibiting inflammation in adipose tissues. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2010;54(11):1596-608.
Zhou JY, Zhou SW. Protection of trigonelline on experimental diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012(1):164219.
Maurya CK, Singh R, Jaiswal N, Venkateswarlu K, Narender T, Tamrakar AK. 4-Hydroxyisoleucine ameliorates fatty acid-induced insulin resistance and inflammatory response in skeletal muscle cells. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2014;395(1-2):51-60.
Mandegary A, Pournamdari M, Sharififar F, Pournourmohammadi S, Fardiar R, Shooli S. Alkaloid and flavonoid rich fractions of fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) with antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects. Food Chem Toxicol. 2012;50(7):2503-7.
Angsukamjanakul J, Aramwit P. The use of breast patch composed of fenugreek extract for increasing milk and quality of life in breast-feeding volunteers. KKU Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (Graduate studies). 2018;6(2):103-15. (in Thai)
John B, Sulaiman CT, George S, Reddy VRK. Total phenolics and flavonoids in selected medicinal plants from Kerala. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2014;6(1):406-8.
Heim KE, Tagliaferro AR, Bobilya DJ. Flavonoid antioxidants: chemistry, metabolism and structure-activity relationships. J Nutr Biochem. 2002;13(10):572-84.
Kiran CR, Madhavi Y, Rao TR. Evaluation of phytochemicals and antioxidant activities of Ceiba pentandra (kapok) seed oil. Journal of Bioanalysis & Biomedicine. 2012;4(4):68-73.
Ahmed HOA, Wang CM. Determination of tea saponin in camellia seed oil with UV and HPLC analysis. World Journal of Engineering and Technology. 2015;3(4C):30-7.
Alam MA, Zaidul ISM, Ghafoor K, Sahena F, Hakim MA, Rafii MY, et al. In vitro antioxidant and, α-glucosidase inhibitory activities and comprehensive metabolite profiling of methanol extract and its fractions from Clinacanthus nutans. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017;17(1):181.
Keerthana G, Kalaivani MK, Sumathy A. In-vitro alpha amylase inhibitory and anti-oxidant activities of ethanolic leaf extract of Croton bonplandianum. Asian J Pharm Clin Res. 2013;6(4):32-6.
Bustanji Y, Al-Masri IM, Mohammad M, Hudaib M, Tawaha K, Tarazi H, et al. Pancreatic lipase inhibition activity of trilactone terpenes of Ginkgo biloba. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem. 2011;26(4):453-9.
Vichai V, Kirtikara K. Sulforhodamine B colorimetric assay for cytotoxicity screening. Nat Protoc. 2006;1(3):1112-6.
Torres-Rodríguez ML, García-Chávez E, Berhow M, De Mejia EG. Anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effect of Calea urticifolia lyophilized aqueous extract on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. J Ethnopharmacol. 2016;188:266-74.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Guidance document on using cytotoxicity tests to estimate starting doses for acute oral systemic toxicity tests. OECD series on testing and assessment, No. 129. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2010.
McCue P, Kwon YI, Shetty K. Anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive potential of sprouted and solid-state bioprocessed soybean. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2005;14(2):145-52.
Asraoui F, Kounnoun A, Cacciola F, El Mansouri F, Kabach I, El Majdoub YO, et al. Phytochemical profile, antioxidant capacity, α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory potential of wild Moroccan Inula viscosa (L.) Aiton leaves. Molecules. 2021;26(11):3134.
Herrera T, Del Hierro JN, Fornari T, Reglero G, Martin D. Inhibitory effect of quinoa and fenugreek extracts on pancreatic lipase andα-amylase under in vitro traditional conditions or intestinal simulated conditions. Food Chem. 2019;270:509-17.
Oishi Y, Sakamoto T, Udagawa H, Taniguchi H, Kobayashi-Hattori K, Ozawa Y, et al. Inhibition of increases in blood glucose and serum neutral fat by Momordica charantia saponin fraction. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2007;71(3):735-40.
