Hypoglycemic Potential of Banana Leaves (Musa paradisiaca) in Albino Rats

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Hypoglycemic Potential of Banana Leaves (Musa
paradisiaca) in Albino Rats
Abstract—Banana is one of the staple fruit in the Philippines.
It is a part of the major diet among Filipinos. It is grown
principally for its fruit. However, the leaves are often used
in the Philippines as wrapper for packed food. The
medicinal use of the leaves was still unknown to many
Filipinos, thus this study focuses on the potential of banana
leaves in lowering blood sugar. Banana leaves were dried
and turned into powder form in Albino rats. Twelve Albino
rats served as experimental animals. They are randomly
assigned in two groups. The first group, or treatment 1, (6
animals) as the control wherein they only fed with rat pellets
and drinking water. The second group-treatment 2 served
as the experimental animals where banana leaves solution
was administered orally for the entire duration of the study.
Initial fasting blood sugar of both treatments showed no
significant result. Fasting blood sugar after three and four
days of administration of the solution showed significant
result. The result revealed that banana leaves has the
potential for lowering blood glucose in Albino Rats. This
implies that banana leaves can be used as herbal medicine to
lower blood glucose.

Index Terms—musa, paradisiaca, hypoglycemic potential,
banana
I. INTRODUCTION
Musa paradisiaca is an herbaceous flowering plant to
the family Musaceae. It is a hybrid between Musa
acuminata and Musa balbisiana belonging to the genus
Musa, mainly grown in the tropical and subtropical
countries like the Philippines and is widely used all over
the world for folkloric, edibility, clothing and medicinal
purposes as well as for its nutritional values. Traditional
medicines in India and South-western Nigeria have been
using bananas for diabetes [1]. Studies have shown that
type 1 diabetics who consume high-fiber diets have lower
blood glucose levels and type 2 diabetics may have
improved blood sugar, lipids and insulin levels. One
medium banana provides about 3 grams of fiber. The
Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends 21-
25g/day for women and 30-38g/day for men [2].
Manuscript received November 25, 2015; revised February 18, 2016.
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of
the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. It is one of
the oldest cultivated plants. All parts of the banana plant
have medicinal applications: the flowers in bronchitis and
dysentery and on ulcers. Cooked flowers are given to
diabetics. The astringent plant sap in cases of hysteria,
epilepsy, leprosy, fevers, haemorrhages, acute dysentery
and diarrhea and it is applied on hemorrhoids, insect and
other stings and bites. Young leaves are placed as
poultices on burns and other skin afflictions. The
astringent ashes of the unripe peel and of the leaves are
taken in dysentery and diarrhea and used for treating
malignant ulcers. The roots can be administered in
digestive disorders, dysentery and other ailments. Banana
seed mucilage is given in cases of diarrhea in India.
Antifungal and antibiotic principles are found in the peel
and pulp of fully ripe bananas. The antibiotic acts against
Mycobacteria [3].
The role of medicinal plants in treatment and cure of
disease has been given much attention over the last few
decades. With diabetes mellitus, anti-diabetic properties
of natural products such as plant extracts have been
reported in researches. However, the said research failed
to study all parts systematically for their anti-diabetic
potential. In the Philippines, banana fruit is a common
staple food. The leaves are used as packaging material for
packed lunch and food, wrapped sweetened sticky rice
due to the aromatic flavor it adds on the food. No study
had been conducted in determining the hypoglycemic
potential of banana leaves in Albino rats in Philippine
setting, thus this study.
A. Objectives of the Study
This study determines the hypoglycemic potential of
the leaves of Musa paradisiaca, in terms of Fasting
Blood Sugar level (FBS) of the control and experimental
groups before and after the experimentation period.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS
A. Materials
In the preparation of banana leaves the following
materials were used; air-tight containers, blender, fresh
Musa paradisiaca leaves, and sieve.
International
Journal of Food Engineering Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2016
©2016 International Journal of Food Engineering 71
Maria Patricia Silvestre
San Beda College, Manila, Philippines
Email: mapie_13@yahoo.com
Liwayway H. Acero
Department of Natural Sciences, San Beda College, Manila, Philippines
Email: lilyacero1@yahoo.com
doi: 10.18178/ijfe.2.1.71-74

The experimental animals includes; twelve (12) young
male albino rats weighing between one hundred fifty to
two hundred grams (150-200g), confined in rat cages and
fed with rat feed.
To monitor the fasting blood sugar of the animals,
materials used were; disposable test strips, glucose meter,
lancet, surgical masks, surgical gloves, syringe, scalpel
blade and thin cloth.
B. Methods
1) Acclimatization of animals
Experimental animals were twelve (12) healthy young
male albino male rats, weighing between one hundred
fifty to two hundred grams (150-200g). These rats were
randomly housed in groups of two animals each, in
standard cages for an acclimatization period of seven (7)
days or one (1) week before the commencement of
experiment. During this period the animals had free
access to standard pellet diet and water ad libitum in an
ambient temperature of (24±2°C); a standard laboratory
condition.
2) Experimental layout
The experimental groupings were treatments 1 and 2.
Treatment 1 was the control group while treatment 2 was
subjected to extract administration. Animals were caged
according the layout shown in Table I.
TABLE I. EXPERIMENTAL LAYOUT
T1 (Control Group)
T2 (Experimental Group)
T1S1
T2S1
T1S2
T2S2
T1S3
T2S3
T1S4
T2S4
T1S5
T2S5
T1S6
T2S6
3) Preparation of Musa paradisiaca leaf solution
Musa paradisiaca leaves were obtained from the
province of Rizal, region of Antipolo district, Metro
Manila, Philippines. The leaves were shade dried and torn
into smaller pieces before it was crushed through a
kitchen blender. After which, leaves were sieved for a
finer powder form. The solution was prepared by mixing
leaf powder form (120 grams) mixed with 20% Splenda
solution (20 grams of Splenda dissolved in 100ml of
water through a 250ml beaker). Splenda is an artificial
sweetener used to enhance taste of the solution. People
rarely consume a sweetener by itself. They use it in their
coffee or on breakfast cereal or when they want to
sweeten some other food they are eating or drinking [4].
The powder was only mixed with Splenda on days of
administration to keep the solution fresh.
4) Administration of leaf extract through syringe-
feeding method
The animals were subjected to fasting overnight before
blood sugar levels were taken. The diet of the animals
was a standard pellet diet of rat feeds and water ad
libitum. The banana leaves in solution form were
administered daily and orally through syringe-feeding
method.
5) Collection of blood sample
An incision using a scalpel blade on its tail vein was
made for the determination of glucose level. Afterwards,
the second drop of blood was placed on the glucose strip
and was analyzed using the glucose meter (Fig. 1a and
Fig. 1b).
Figure 1a. Incision of the tail vein
Figure 1b. Blood sample was analyzed in glucose meter
The normal blood glucose level of a rat is one hundred
milligrams per deciliter (100mg/dL; between 60-130). On
the other hand, directly after a meal, blood glucose level
may spike up higher, but it should go back to normal
range of a rat’s blood glucose level, which is between
sixty to thirty milligrams per deciliter (60-30mg/dL) [5].
6) Data gathered and statistical analysis
Fasting blood sugar level before and after
administration of leaf extract was recorded. The data
gathered was statistically evaluated through standard T-
test. A statistical analysis was performed using Microsoft
Excel, version 2013. A significant difference was
achieved when the value of t-statistics is greater than t-
critical value.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
A. Initial Fasting Blood Glucose Levels of the
Table II shows the initial blood glucose content of the
experimental animals. The control group (treatment 1)
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Journal of Food Engineering Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2016
©2016 International Journal of Food Engineering 72
Experimental Animals

had a mean glucose level of 93.8mg/dL. The
experimental treatment (treatment 2) had 90.3mg/dL. T-
test showed no significant difference on the glucose level
of the experimental animals, which further shows that all
experimental animals were treated equal on the start of
the study.
TABLE II. INITIAL GLUCOSE LEVELS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS (MG/DL)
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Sample 5
Sample 6
Total
Mean
T-test
Treatment 1 -
control
92
97
85
94
98
97
563
93.8
N.S. Tstat (1.13) <
T.crit (2.57)
Treatment 2 -
with leaf extract
92
85
88
97
84
96
542
90.3
B. Fasting Blood Glucose Levels after Three Days of
Administration
Table III shows the glucose content of the
experimental animals after three days of administration.
Treatment 1 (control group) had a mean glucose level of
92.8 mg/dL. The experimental treatment (treatment 2)
had 77.3 mg/dL. T-test showed significant difference on
the glucose level of the experimental animals, which
further shows that banana leaf extract reduced the
glucose content after three days of administration. The
result can be supported by the study on Comparative
evaluation of the antidiabetic and hyploglycaemic
potentials of the parts of Musa paradisiacal. The two
most important intestinal enzymes that regulate blood
sugar level are α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Both are
involved in breaking down complex carbohydrates such
as starch and glycogen [6].
C. Final Fasting Glucose Content of the Experimental
Animals
Table IV shows the final glucose content of the
experimental animals. Control group (treatment 1) had a
mean glucose level of 92.3mg/dL. The experimental
treatment (treatment 2) had 73.7 mg/dL. T-test showed
significant difference on the glucose level of the
experimental animals, which further shows that the leaf
solution reduced the glucose content after four days o f
administration. Jain’s (1968) study found the following;
the flowers and the roots of Musa sapientum showed
hemoglobin effect on normal fasting rabbits and the
chloroform extract of its flowers showed a final reduction
in blood glucose, glycosylated haemoglobin and an
increase in total haemoglobin [7]. A study on Evaluation
of the antidiabetic and hypoglycemic Potentials of the
parts of Musa paradisiaca plant extracts shows that the
plant is antidiabetic by being hypoglycemic. The
percentage of α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory
activities of the extracts from the plant’s different parts
such as stem. Phytochemical analysis of Musa
paradisiaca demonstrated the presence of rutin in crude
extract and fractions of M. x paradisiaca leaves as the
major compound. These beneficial effects on the
regulation of glucose homeostasis observed for M. x
paradisiaca leaves and the presence of rutin as the major
compound indicate potential anti-diabetic properties,
since previous studies have been reported that rutin can
modulate glucose homeostasis [8].
TABLE III. FASTING BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS AFTER THREE DAYS (MG/DL)
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Sample 5
Sample 6
Total
Mean
T-test
Treatment Group 1
(control)
93
94
85
91
96
98
557
92.8
Significant. Tstat
(19.5) > T.crit (2.57)
Treatment 2- with
leaf extract
81
74
76
82
73
78
464
77.3
TABLE IV. FINAL BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVELS (MG/DL)
Sample 1
Sample 2
Sample 3
Sample 4
Sample 5
Sample 6
Total
Mean
T-test
Treatment 1
(control)
95
89
87
93
94
98
556
92.3
Significant T-stat
(6.1) > T.crit (2.57)
Treatment 2 (with
leaf extract)
78
72
68
75
73
73
439
73.7
IV. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Based on the results and findings on this study Musa
paradisiaca leaves has hypoglycemic action in normal
rats and the effect was found significant four days after
the first administration. With its hypoglycemic findings
comes a potential antidiabetic effect.
Further studies should be explored on the possibilities
of using other means in decreasing blood sugar level
through banana leaf extract in different concentrations
and different types of administration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledge their invaluable
administrators, professors from San Beda College,
College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Tessie R. da Jose-Dean,,
Dr. Christian Bryan Bustamante-Vice Dean and Dr.
Fedeliz S. Tuy-Associate-Vice Dean, for their constant
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Journal of Food Engineering Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2016
©2016 International Journal of Food Engineering 73

encouragement. From the College of Medicine, Dr.
Pacifico Calderon for the guidance on the use of Animal
House. Other mentor, Dr. Eduardo Lorico, for his
expertise, closed supervision and assistance in handling
the laboratory animals in monitoring the animals’ blood
glucose.
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[4] M. Y. Pepino, et al., “Sucralose affects glycemic and hormonal
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[7] D. L. Jain, et al., “Study of antacid and diuretic activity of ash and
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[8] V. D. Kappel, et al., “Beneficial effects of banana leaves (Musa x
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Maria Patricia Silvestre is an undergraduate
BS Human Biology student from San Beda
College, Manila, Philippines.
Liwayway H. Acero is a member of Asia
Pacific Chemistry, Biology, Environment,
Engineering Society, editorial member for
Global Science and Technology Forum.
Educational background: Doctor of Education
major in Educational Management from
Palawan State University on March 2003. She
conducted her dissertation as a research
student at Okayama University Graduate
School Education in Japan on March to June
2000. She got her diploma in science teaching -major in biology in 2009
from the University of the Philippines-Open University in Los Banos
Laguna. She received her Master of Science degree in agricultural
education major in agricultural education minor in Plant Science
(Agronomy) from the Western Philippines University in Aborlan,
Palawan, Philippines on April 1993. She got her Bachelor of Science
degree in Agriculture (cum laude), major in Animal science and minor
in Plant Science (agronomy) from the Western Philippines University in
Aborlan, Palawan Philippines on April 1986.
She is an associate professor and the chairperson of the Department of
Natural Sciences, College of Arts & Science in San Beda College,
Mendiola, Manila, Philippines. Prior to her employment in San Beda
College in Manila, she had served as professor for 20 years in Western
Philippines University in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines.
She handled several administrative works aside from teaching
profession. She served as assistant dean of Western Philippines
University, Puerto-Princesa Campus, and Director for Instruction,
Department Chairperson of the Education Department chairperson of
the Agribusiness Department & chairperson for the thesis committee.
She had 11 publications. Nine of which are international publications.
International
Journal of Food Engineering Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2016
©2016 International Journal of Food Engineering 74