Glucose lowering effect of wild banana cultivar of <em>Musa acuminata </em>L. fruit peels from Bandarban, Bangladesh in Swiss albino mice

Abstract

Diabetes is a debilitating disease, which has become a serious concern in Bangladesh. Earlier studies have shown that extracts of fruit skins of various cultivars of banana species can improve glucose tolerance in glucose-loaded mice. The objective of this study was to evaluate through oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) of methanol extract of fruit peels of a wild cultivar of Musa acuminata, which can be found in southeast Bangladesh forests. In OGTT, ripe fruit skin methanolic extract of Musa acuminata (MEMA) showed a reduction by 0.04, 19.65, 19.80 and 26.84%, when administered per kg body weight in mice at doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg, respectively. A standard glucose lowering drug, glibenclamide decreased blood glucose levels by 21.08 and 37.38% at doses of 2 and 10 mg. Overall, the findings indicate that MEMA can improve glucose tolerance and may be of potential use to diabetic patients.