Review of traditionally consumed antidiabetic fruits in the diet

According to the WHO's report, the risk of diabetes is increasing and one in eleven people now have diabetes.  By 2030 the patients with diabetes will increase in a sharp manner like doubling the number nowadays, and so 90% will carry type-2 diabetes. To put the blood glucose level under control, in a stable level with low deviations is the effective way to prevent or delay type-2 diabetes. Hence, the use of traditional herbal supplements and fruit-vegetable extracts stands out and commonly used all over the world in high volumes. The use of traditional herbs has advantage on the lowering the cost of medication, and one another advantage is the avoiding the side effects such as flatulence, diarrhoea, tiredness and upset stomach . The objective of this review was to evaluate in vitro and in vivo studies (animal and human) of some antidiabetic fruits.  Health benefits of the antidiabetic fruits is well-recognized and traditionally consumption of some fruits draw attention for the prevention of type-2 diabetes due to their active hyperglycemic constituents. The publications cited originate from electronic databases such as Google Scholar, Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus, Wiley-Blackwell and Springer. Scientific name of the fruits, the words antidiabetic, hypoglycemic and type 2 diabetes were used as keywords for search. Certain fruits may be used in the management of diabetes (acarbose-like activity) due to some bioactive compounds of fruits such as polyphenols and essential oils, which inhibit digestive enzymes or act as insulin like molecules. This review highlights the benefits of antidiabetic fruits, and active chemical constituents of them. These fruits have significant role in the control of type-2 diabetes.