Abstract The use of herbal remedies, including corn silk, classified as Stigma Maydis or Zea mays, are popular as an alternative to standard Western allopathic medicine for a variety of problems, including prostate disorders, a diuretic as well as for bedwetting and obesity. In the present study the antidiabetic potential of methanol extract of cooked, dried and pulverized Stigma Maydis was assessed in alloxan-induced diabetic albino mice. Hyperglycemia was induced by the injection of 150 mg/kg (i.p.) of alloxan monohydrate freshly dissolved in physiological saline. Doses (250, 500 and 750 mg/kg) per os, of the extract were separately administered to three groups of five diabetic mice each in the study. The activity was compared with reference standard glibenclamide (2 mg/kg, p.o.) and negative control of physiological saline. Treatment of the alloxan-induced diabetic mice with the methanol extract of Stigma Maydis decreased the raised blood glucose levels in a dose-dependent manner. The methanol extract exhibited relatively significant (P<0.05) anti-diabetic effect after 72 h and 96 h of treatment with the doses of 500 and 750 mg/kg body weight, respectively. Results of phytochemical screening of the methanol extract of cooked Stigma Maydis have indicated the presence of cardiac glycoside, steroids, terpenoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates and anthraquinones.
Keywords Alloxan monohydrate, cooked corn silk, diabetes mellitus, physiological saline, glibenclamide, albino mice.