Carica papaya leaves: One of dynamic plant parts having multiple therapeutic activities

Abstract

Introduction: Papaya (Carica papaya Linn.) belongs to the Caricaceae family. Papaya is well known around the world for its medicinal and nutritional properties. Various parts of the plant like, fruits, roots, bark, peel, seeds and pulp are known to have medicinal properties and scientifically established for the various properties. Since the ancient times, part of plants has been utilized for their medicinal values. The plant contains high amount of vitamins A, B and C as well as proteolytic enzyme such as papain and chymopapain. Due to such type of versatile phytoconstituents, the plants show lots of pharmacological application. In this review article we summarized the information regarding the various pharmacological activities of papaya leaf such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antispasmodic, antifungal, antisickling, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antimalarial, as well as helps in proper digestion, hair growth, skin related problems and relief in menstrual pain. Methods: All information presented in this review article regarding the beneficial application of Carica papaya leaf extract has been acquired by imminent various electronic databases including Scopus, Google scholar, Science Direct, Web of science, and PubMed. Result: The papaya plant, including fruit, leaves, seed, bark, latex and its ingredients, plays an important part in the management of progressive illness. The papaya leaf contains active ingredients such as alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, tannins, saponins and the flavonoids responsible for the basketful therapeutic function. Conclusion: The main findings showed that papaya leaf extract has strong medicinal properties. The leaves of papaya may also useful in cosmetic applications.