Green and sustainable enzyme-assisted extraction of antidiabetic phytochemicals: current trends and future prospects

Diabetes mellitus is a critical global metabolic disorder that leads to serious complications and increasingly burdens healthcare systems. While people widely use traditional antidiabetic medications, long-term use often results in side effects, drug resistance, and increased costs. As a result, medicinal plants rich in bioactive phytochemicals such as alkaloids, phenolics, terpenoids, phytosterols, and cardiac glycosides are being explored as safer, more effective alternatives. These compounds offer diverse pharmacological benefits, including inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase, stimulation of insulin secretion, regeneration of β-cells, antioxidant effects, and improvement of diabetes-related complications. However, efficient extraction of these bioactives remains challenging due to the use of toxic solvents, high temperatures, and poor selectivity in conventional methods. Enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) has emerged as an eco-friendly, cost-effective, and efficient technique. EAE employs hydrolytic enzymes like cellulase, pectinase, and hemicellulose to break down plant cell walls, leading to greater phytochemical release. Benefits include higher yields, reduced solvent and energy use, shorter extraction times, and improved extract quality. This review critically examines antidiabetic phytochemicals, the mechanisms and key operational parameters of EAE, the specific roles of hydrolytic enzymes, recent experimental advances, industrial scalability challenges, and sustainability considerations, thereby outlining current trends and future prospects for the green, large-scale production of herbal antidiabetic agents.