An extract of the Musa sapientum flowers has hypoglycaemic action. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Hypoglycaemic effect of Musa sapientum L. in alloxan-induced diabetic rats.
J Ethnopharmacol. 1999 Dec 15 ;68(1-3):321-5. PMID: 10624895
L Pari
Musa sapientum L. ('Ney Poovan') commonly known as 'banana' is mainly used in Indian folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes mellitus. Oral administration of 0.15, 0.20 and 0.25 g/kg of chloroform extract of the Musa sapientum flowers (MSFEt) for 30 days resulted in a significant reduction in blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and an increase in total haemoglobin, but in the case of 0.25 g/kg the effect was highly significant. It also prevents decrease in body weight. Oral glucose tolerance test was also performed in experimental diabetic rats in which there was a significant improvement in glucose tolerance in animals treated with MSFEt and the effect was compared with glibenclamide. Thus the study shows that MSFEt has hypoglycaemic action.