An α-Glucosidase Inhibitor from Drepananthus Philippinensis

Extraction, fractionation, depigmentation and chromatographic purification of the crude DCM-methanolic extract of the Philippine medicinal plant Drepananthus philippinensis resulted to the isolation and identification of trans-cinnamic acid (1) on the basis of spectroscopic evidences (1H NMR, 13C NMR, COSY, HSQC and HMBC) and comparison with literature data. Microplate colorimetric anti-glucosidase assay showed compound 1 (IC50 32 mM) to exhibit a moderately strong inhibitory activity against the test enzyme. This is the first report of 1 from D. philippinensis and its biological evaluation.