Chinese Herbal Plant Raw Material Gymnema Sylvestre Leaf Gymnema Powder Gymnema Extract in Bulk

Chinese Herbal Plant Raw Material Gymnema Sylvestre Leaf Gymnema Powder Gymnema Extract in Bulk

What's Gymnema sylvestre?

Gymnema sylvestre, a vulnerable species is a slow growing, perennial, woody climber found in central and peninsular India. Gymnema sylvestre is a large, more or less pubescent, woody climber. Leaves are opposite, usually elliptic or ovate (1.25-2.0 inch × 0.5-1.25 inch). Flowers are small, yellow, in umbellate cymes. Follicles are terete, lanceolate, upto 3 inches in length.

The leaves of Gymnema sylvestre (family: Asclepiadaceae) is used in making of the extract Gymnemagenin, the main sapogenin in the leaves, yields gymnemic acids which is a chemically complex mixture of saponins and gurmarin, a polypeptide of 35 amino acids.

How does it works?

The primary chemical constituents of Gymnema include gymnemic acid, tartaric acid, gurmarin, calcium oxalate, glucose, stigmasterol, betaine, and choline. Gymnemic acids are anti-sweet principles that shows inhibitory effect on plasma glucose. The atomic arrangement of gymnemic acid molecules is similar to that of glucose molecules. These molecules fill the receptor locations on the taste buds thereby preventing its activation by sugar molecules present in the food, thereby curbing the sugar craving. Similarly, Gymnemic acid molecules fill the receptor location in the absorptive external layers of the intestine thereby preventing the sugar molecules absorption by the intestine, which results in low blood sugar level.

The following figure could provide a diagrammatic representation for explaining the action of gymnemic acids on the intestinal receptors. The basic function of the acids is to bind to the receptor on the intestine, and stop the glucose molecule from binding to the receptor. Thus, gymnemic acids prevent the absorption of excess glucose.