Abstract
Although the Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) leaf has been drunk as a tea since early times in South America, there have been no reports concerning its effects on glucose metabolism. We conducted screening of disaccharidase inhibition activity using various foodstuffs, and found that a boiling water extract of Mate leaf inhibited the sugar hydrolyzing activity. When maltose, sucrose, and starch were used as substrates, the IC50 values were 0.1, 0.5, and 0.6mg/mL, respectively. The results of these sugar tolerance tests in normal rats showed a significant suppressive effect on the increase of blood glucose levels compared to the control group. These results suggest that the Mate leaf has an inhibitory effect on saccharide digestion in the intestine based on inhibition of the activity of saccharide hydrolyzing enzymes.
