Glycosidase inhibition by plant alkaloids which are structural analogues of monosaccharides

]The inhibitory activities of three plant alkaloids, deoxynojirimycin, 2,5-dihydroxymethyl-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidine and 1,5 dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-mannitol towards glycosidases from several sources have been compared. These are structural analogues of D-glucose, D-fructose and D-mannose respectively. The occurrence of 2,5-dihydroxymethyl-3,4-dihydroxypyrrolidine in Lonchocarpus sericeus seed is confirmed and has been shown to be responsible for the glucosidase inhibition wrongly attributed to 1,5-dideoxy-1,5-imino-D-mannitol in a previous report.