Assessment of the Anti-Lipase Activity of Clitoria Ternatea Linn. Extract Using an In Vitro Titrimetric Assay Method

Obesity is a major global health concern associated with several metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular diseases. Pancreatic lipase plays a key role in the digestion and absorption of dietary fats, making it an important target for anti-obesity therapy. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of Clitoria ternatea leaf extract and to characterize its functional groups using Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The leaves were shade-dried, powdered, and extracted by the maceration method using 70% ethanol. Preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out to identify major phytoconstituents. Pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity was assessed by the titrimetric method using olive oil as the natural substrate, with orlistat as the positive control. The assay was performed in triplicate at concentrations of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mcg/ml, and the percentage inhibition was calculated from the mean titration values. The extract exhibited concentration-dependent inhibition of pancreatic lipase, with percentage inhibition values of 19.6%, 24.2%, 30.3%, 39.3, and 45.4% respectively, while orlistat showed 80.3% inhibition. FT-IR analysis confirmed the presence of functional groups corresponding to bioactive phytochemicals that may contribute to the observed inhibitory activity. These findings indicate that Clitoria ternatea leaf extract possesses promising pancreatic lipase inhibitory potential and may serve as natural source for the development of anti-obesity agents. Furthur studies are required to isolate the active constituents and validate their efficacy through in vivo investigations.