## 3 Results and Discussion
### Antioxidant and Anti-Diabetic Activities of Selected Herbs and Spices
Among the most reactive species, hydroxyl radicals (\({}^{\bullet}\)OH) attack nearly every molecule in the biological system, resulting in lipid peroxidation, significant biological damage, and DNA damage. As a result, herbal extracts' ability to scavenge \({}^{\bullet}\)OH radicals could offer a significant defense against biological damage caused by these free radicals. The molybdenum (VI) to molybdenum (V)reduction capacity by an antioxidant phenolic compound and the resulting development of a green molybdenum (V)/phosphate complex is measured using the Phosphombolybdenum antioxidant (PMA) assay. According to the PMA assay findings, mint leaves (8.64 \(\pm\) 1.84 mg AAE/g), basil leaves (8.39 \(\pm\) 0.35 mg AAE/g) and coriander seeds (8.04 \(\pm\) 0.55 mg AAE/g) have considerably greater total antioxidant activity than the other listed spices and herbs, while fennel seeds, fenugreek and basil leaves have considerably lower total antioxidant activity (3.21 \(\pm\) 0.93, 3.44 \(\pm\) 0.32 mg AAE/g, respectively). The present study found that the PMA values of all five herbs and spices examined were equivalent to those previously reported for clove (8.45), fennel (8.16), allspice (8.08), thyme (7.93 mg AAE/g), fenugreek (7.61 mg AAE/g), cardamom (6.48 mg AAE/g), and black cardamom (5.72 mg AAE/g). Alpha-glucosidase IC\({}_{50}\) (\(\mu\)g/mL) is a measure of the concentration of an inhibitor required to inhibit 50% of the activity of the enzyme \(\alpha\)-glucosidase. The lower the IC\({}_{50}\) value, the more potent the inhibitor is in inhibiting the activity of the enzyme. In this present study comparing the inhibitory activity of five selected herbs and spices against \(\alpha\)-glucosidase, results showed that among all mentioned herbs and spices extracts, mint leaves showed stronger and more potent inhibition activity with IC\({}_{50}\) = 2.04 \(\pm\) 0.03 \(\mu\)g/mL in comparison with the selected herbs and spices, then comes basil leaves which also exhibited strong inhibitory activity against \(\alpha\)glucosidase with IC\({}_{50}\) values of 3.32 \(\pm\) 0.47 \(\mu\)g/mL. The IC\({}_{50}\) values for \(\alpha\)-glucosidase inhibitory activities of coriander seeds, fenugreek leaves and fennel seeds were 9.41 \(\pm\) 1.82, 15.83 \(\pm\) 1.13 and 31.92 \(\pm\) 2.07 \(\mu\)g/mL, respectively, that were referred to as moderate \(\alpha\)-glucosidase inhibitory properties. According to [PERSON] et al. (2018), who conducted \(\alpha\)-glucosidase inhibitory activities of fenugreek and coriander seeds, which showed low \(\alpha\)-glucosidase inhibitory activity with IC\({}_{50}\) value in the range of 6.05 \(\pm\) 0.67 \(\mu\)g/mL to 17.86 \(\pm\) 2.22 \(\mu\)g/mL for fenugreek and 19.31 \(\pm\) 1 \(\mu\)g/mL to 42.57 \(\pm\) 2.13 \(\mu\)g/mL for coriander seeds. Antioxidants in culinary spices and herbs are vital for disabling ROS by impeding their generation (S  
It has been reported that total phenolics, as well as total flavonoids, are believed to be accountable for antioxidant activities. Since polyphenols are vital antioxidant agents in spices and herbs, this study considered TFC, TPC, and TCT in selected spices and herbs. The value of TPC was identified, ranging from 9.90 to 125.42 mg GAE/g (Table 2). TFC and antioxidant activities (FRAP, ABTS, FICA, and \({}^{\bullet}\)OH-RSA) showed a highly significant correlation (\(p\leq 0.01\)), but TPC and ABTS showed a substantial correlation having \(r^{2}=0.97\) (\(p\leq 0.05\)). Surprisingly, TCT and TPC showed a negative correlation. Previously, [PERSON] et al. [40] also reported that flavonoids have greater antioxidant capability than tannins. It is recorded that total phenolic and flavonoids are major players in the antioxidant values of plant foods [19; 41; 42]. Numerous variables, such as the variety of samples analyzed, the values, and the various antioxidant assessments, have an impact on the correlation.