ABSTRACT
Obesity is a global health concern, widely recognized as the largest and fastest growing public health problem in the developed and developing countries associated with high morbidity and mortality. It is a multifactorial disease resulting in significant impairment of health. The strategies used for the treatment of obesity generally comprise of prescription of drugs and surgery. Number of basic mechanisms has been considered for obesity management but these entail serious complexities. In recent year’s pancreatic lipase, a principal lipolytic enzyme secreted by the pancreas has gained importance as -obesity target. As the PL acts in the duodenum it has least involvement with the blood or brain, avoiding a lot of drug related side effects. Although PL has been considered as good target for obesity management, the drug discovery and development in this section is not abundantly explored. Numerous natural molecules have been established for pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity but only orlistat (tetrahydrolipstatin), a saturated derivative of lipstatin designed to inhibit the action of gastrointestinal lipase approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for longterm usage. However, it has severe side effects. Therefore, the possible treatment of obesity using natural products is an extensive field to be explored. Several plant derived molecules including medicinal plants have been reported for their pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity. In particular pancreatic lipase inhibitor from food plants can be considered as a good source for the discovery of a safe anti-obesity agent due to possible active principle as edible component. Present review mainly focuses on the pancreatic lipase inhibitor from food plants and its potential in the development of safe anti-obesity drug.