Gymnemagenin benefit for blood sugar control

Gymnemagenin (3 beta,16 beta,21 beta,22 alpha,23,28-hexahydroxy-olean-12-ene), is a sapogenin from Gymnema sylvestre,

Microwave-assisted extraction of total bioactive saponin fraction from Gymnema sylvestre with reference to gymnemagenin: a potential biomarker.
Phytochem Anal. 2009. Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, 700032, India.
To develop a fast and ecofriendly microwave assisted extraction (MAE) technique for the effective and exhaustive extraction of gymnemagenin as an indicative biomarker for the quality control of Gymnema sylvestre. Several extraction parameters such as microwave power, extraction time, solvent composition, pre-leaching time, loading ratio and extraction cycle were studied for the determination of the optimum extraction condition. Scanning electron micrographs were obtained to elucidate the mechanism of extraction. The final optimum extraction conditions as obtained from the study were: 40% microwave power, 6 min irradiation time, 85% v/v methanol as the extraction solvent, 15 min pre-leaching time and 25 : 1 (mL/g) as the solvent-to-material loading ratio. The proposed extraction technique produced a maximum yield of 4.3% w/w gymnemagenin in 6 min which was 1.3, 2.5 and 1.95 times more efficient than 6 h of heat reflux, 24 h of maceration and stirring extraction, respectively. A synergistic heat and mass transfer theory was also proposed to support the extraction mechanism.

Extraction and quantification of gymnemic acids through gymnemagenin from callus cultures of Gymnema sylvestre.
Phytochem Anal. 2006. Food Engineering and Technology Department, Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, Matungoa, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
The phyto-constituents of Gymnema sylvestre are used in the treatment of diabetes and obesity. The present work reports on the extraction of gymnemic acid through gymnemagenin from callus cultures of G. sylvestre. Components were separated on pre-coated silica gel 60 GF254 plates with chloroform:methanol (8:2) and scanned using a densitometric scanner at 205 nm in the near-UV region. Linearity of determination of gymnemagenin was observed in the range 2-10 microg. The average percentage recovery of gymnemagenin from leaf callus extracts was 99.

Standardisation of Gymnema sylvestre R.Br. by high-performance thin-layer chromatography: an improved method.
Phytochem Anal. 2006. Laila Impex Research Centre, Unit I, Phase III, Jawahar Autonagar, Vijayawada, India.
An improved high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method for the standardisation of Gymnema sylvestre is reported. The method involves the initial hydrolysis of gymnemic acids, the active ingredients, to a common aglycone followed by the quantitative estimation of gymnemagenin. The present method rectifies an error found in an HPTLC method reported recently.

Standardisation of Gymnema sylvestre r. Br. with reference to gymnemagenin by high-performance thin-layer chromatography.
Phytochem Anal. 2004. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India.