It is common knowledge that normal glucose regulation is impaired in diabetes mellitus. The two major classes are type 1 or insulin dependent, and type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Where in type 1 diabetes there is almost complete destruction/loss of insulin producing cells resulting in glucose starvation in skeletal muscle, in type 2 diabetes the major manifestations are insensitivity of the pancreatic beta cells to glucose stimulated insulin release and the impairment of skeletal muscle cells to insulin stimulated glucose entry (insulin resistance). Over the years many natural products, especially plant derived have been used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of diabetes. Apart from their empirical value, the scientific basis for investigating the Nature’s inventory of chemical compounds for an anti-diabetic principle forms an interesting inquiry. Insulin is released from the beta cells of pancreas in response to rising glucose in the bloodstream. Interestingly, although glucose is a potent natural stimulator of insulin release from the pancreatic beta cells, there is no evidence to show that primitive man consumed bolus meals comprising of carbohydrates in abundant quantities, to raise the blood glucose levels high enough (180 mg/dL) to stimulate insulin release from the pancreas. Furthermore, nature is also rich in chemical compounds that are structurally similar to glucose. The insulino tropic activities of sulfonylureas which have structural similarities with glucose support this line of thinking. Of late, incretins and incretin mimetics have been used for the treatment of diabetes. Incretins like glucagon like peptie-1 (GLP-1) and gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) are gut hormones released in response to ingestion of food. These are short lived as they are immediately acted upon by dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4). Apart from modifying the peptide for a longer duration of action, inhibitors of DPP-4 are in clinical use as antidiabetics. The search for natural inhibitors of DPP4 in some of the plants and their products used for glycemic control therefore would merit attention.