Conclusion
In our effort to provide quality control tools for plant materials used in Ayurvedic system of medicine, we have undertaken the task of developing chemobiological standardization methods for Indian medicinal plants. In that process, scandinone, scadenone, scandenin A, scandenin B and 4′, 5′, 7-trihydroxybiprenyl isoflavone were identified as the main compounds showing intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitory and free radical scavenging activities from D. scandens. Intestinal α-glucosidase inhibitors effectively manage postprandial hyperglycemia and control the development of diabetic complications. Therefore, a combination of free radical scavengers and α-glucosidase inhibitors has become novel therapeutic approach to holistically manage diabetes mellitus. Presence of both these actives in significant proportions in D. scandens, hence opens novel avenues for its use and application in diabetes. All the bioactive isolates are exhaustively extracted in to methanol and a reversed-phase HPLC method has been developed to separate them, which can be used as an effective quality control tool in the herbal industry.