In folkloric medicine, plantain is recommended for treatment of different ailments, including urinary stone, epilepsy, dysentery and diarrhoea. The root is said to have aphrodisiac property and is used for impotency in men.
Different varieties of plantain and bananas, including their flowers, green fruits and roots have been used in folklore medicine to lower blood sugar. In southern Nigeria, for example, various parts of plantain are used in the preparation of over-the-counter natural remedy for diabetes.
Now, scientists, looking into the effectiveness of ethanol extracts of plantain trunk in lowering blood pressure, said its effect was similar to metformin, the conventional medicines used by diabetics in maintaining their blood sugar level.
Diabetes is recognised as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. It is a chronic disease with a substantial elevation in the circulating blood sugar.
The major mode of control of diabetes is usually by diet, exercise and insulin replacement therapy and by the use of herbal agents able to lower blood sugar level (hypoglycemic agents). Diet therapy, along with insulin or oral hypoglycemic agent, is an important method of treatment in diabetes, though it has several demerits. Plants have been used for the major source of treatment of diabetes mellitus from ancient time in the Indian medicine and in the world.
In a 2011 study published in the Journal of Pharmacy Research, the scientists stated that fasting blood glucose level was significantly reduced by the third day of treatment with ethanol extract of plantain trunk, in a fashion that is comparable to the conventional o r standard drug, Metformin.
At a dose of 300 mg/kg, the extract showed glucose level reduction of 30.456 per cent in alloxan induced rat while 39.584 per cent was found in Metformin after three days. Conversely, no death was found due to oral ingestion of crude extract.
In another development, researchers said the methanolic extract of green fruits of plantain had the potential of lowering blood sugar level. The 2003 study was carried out by Ojewole JA and Adewunmi CO at the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Durban-Westville, Durban, South Africa and published in the journal, Methods Finding Experimental Clinical Pharmacology.
The researcher, while lending credence to the suggested folkloric use of the plant in the management and/or control of adult-onset, type-2 diabetic mellitus among the Yoruba-speaking people of South-Western, suggested that the blood-sugar lowering effect of the methanolic extract of the unripe plantain might be due to the extract at least in part stimulating insulin production and subsequent glucose utilisation.
Meanwhile, the stem juice of plantain tree is used in traditional medical practice in Ghana to arrest bleeding from wound. Results of experiments conducted to scientifically investigate the possible haemostatic effect of plantain stem’s juice in guinea pigs, using bleeding and clotting times in the journal, Advances in Biological Research showed that blood clotting and bleeding times were both significantly reduced when the stem juice was introduced.
Sixteen healthy guinea pigs of either sex, weighing between 200 and 250g, were used for the study which indeed justified the use of plantain stem juice in controlling bleeding and treatment of wounds.
In Ayurveda, a traditional system of medicine, plantain plant is used as an antidote for asthma, burns, excessive menstrual flow, diabetes, worm expeller, hypertension, insomnia and snake bite. Its leaves can be used in the treatment of cough and bronchitis. Roots are used for worm expeller.
Fruits can increase the renal activities and reduce the risk of kidney cancer. It is also used in diarrhoea, stomach aches, lack of appetite, maintaining bones health, gastric ulcer, strengthening the immune system, reducing the risk of hypertension, mental shock and in improving the muscular activity.
In a review of pharmacognostic studies and pharmacological actions of plantain in the 2011 International Journal of Innovative Pharmaceutical Research, orally administered banana pulp powder was shown to protect against stomach ulcer in rats. The study suggested that banana powder treatment not only strengthened lining of the intestine against ulcers but also promote healing.
Source:tribune
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