Oregano, Rosemary Help With Diabetes Management
Rosemary and oregano—herbs commonly used in cooking—contain high amounts of bioactive compounds that may have the ability to manage diabetes in much the same was as prescription medication, according to new reseach.
In order to better understand the relationship between these herbs and diabetes, researchers from the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign compared the effects of extracts created from greenhouse–grown and commercial varieties of Greek oregano, marjoram, rosemary, and Mexican oregano on 2 diabetes–related enzymes: dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTB1B).
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The effectiveness of the extracts was measured on their ability to inhibit these enzymes that affect insulin secretion and insulin signaling and are also the target of prescription diabetes drugs, such as sitagliptin and metformin.
They found that greenhouse-grown herbs contained more polyphenols (302.7 μg to 430.1 μg of gallic acid equivalents/mg of dry weight of extract) and flavonoids (370.1 μg to 661.4 μg of rutin equivalents/mg of dry weight of extract) than commercially produced varieties.
Greenhouse–grown rosemary, Mexican oregano, and marjoram were the best inhibitors of DPP-IV (IC50 = 16 μM, 29 μM, and 59 μM, respectively), and commercial rosemary, Mexican oregano, and marjoram were the best inhibitors of PTP1B (32.4% to 40.9% at 500 μM).
“Overall, [the] herbs contain several flavonoids that inhibit DPP-IV and should be investigated further regarding their potential in diabetes management,” researchers concluded.
–Michael Potts
Reference
Bower AM, Hernandez LMR, Mark AB, Mejia EG. Bioactive compounds from culinary herbs inhibit a molecular target for type 2 diabetes management, dipeptidyl peptidase IV. J Agric Food Chem. 2014. 62(26): 6147–6158. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf500639f