Pharmacological Activities of Banana

Abstract

Plants have been in use in traditional medicine since antiquity, and many active metabolic products with biological significance are obtained from them. Recently, pharmaceutical industries have developed great interest in utilizing these products as an alternative to the chemically synthesized drugs. This is due to the discovery of important new medicines from the plants, because of studies on how people of different background use plants as cure and treatment for many diseases, and side effects of the synthesized drugs. Banana, an eatable fruit produced by some herbaceous flowering plants of the genus Musa, is one of the valuable fruits with proven pharmacological potentials. Bananas are spread almost all over the world. Different chemical constituents like apigenin glycosides, myricetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, dopamine, and serotonin have been reported in different parts and varieties of banana. The presence of carbohydrate, proteins as well as flavonoids, makes bananas useful in both nutrition and therapeutics. Pharmacologically, bananas have been shown to possess antiulcer, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities. This chapter discusses the essential information on banana, including its varieties, distribution, pharmacological actions, and its relevance in pharmaceutical industries. This will be beneficial for researchers to further harness the robustness of this fruit in controlling many diseases and modification of drugs.

Pattern and Outcome of Childhood Cancer in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital

“…Males predominated in the present study with a M: F ratio of 3:1. Similar male predominance was documented in all other studies [7][8][9][10][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…The prevalence of 2.0% documented in the present study was comparable to the 2.7% and 2.9% reported in Kano [7,8] northern Nigeria but much lower than the 7.7%, 9.1% and 10.9% reported in Zaria, [9] Sokoto [10] and Kano, [11] northern Nigeria respectively. These varying prevalence rates could be attributed to the varying geographic and ethnic differences as well as difference in environmental exposures.…”

“…Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) was the commonest type of leukaemia followed by acute myeloid leukaemia in the present study. This pattern was also observed in Zaria, [9] northern Nigeria, Lagos, [15] western Nigeria, Estonia, [17] Iran [18] and Namibia [22].…”

“…In the present study, childhood cancers were observed mostly in the age group 1-5years as also observed by Eke & Akani [13] in a previous study carried out in Port Harcourt. Similarly, Fathi et al [18] in Iran documented predominance of childhood cancers in children aged 1-4 years, Ochicha et al [11] in Kano, northern Nigeria reported 0-4 years while Ahmad et al [9] and Irvine [20] in Zaria, northern Nigeria and United Kingdom respectively observed children less than 5 years as the commonest age group affected. Contrary to the above studies, Utuk & Ikpeme [12] in Uyo, southern Nigeria documented 5-10 years as the commonest age group affected, Shehu et al [8] in Ile-Ife 6-10 years and Yifru & Muluye [19] in Ethiopia documented ≥ 10 years as the commonest age groups affected.…”

Klutuk Banana (Musa Balbisiana Colla) Peel Fractions: Antioxidant and Antihyperglycemic Potential

“…In comparison, banana peel phenolic content was higher relative to other fruits such as papaya, pineapple, avocado, melon, passion fruit and watermelon [45]. Therefore, banana is perhaps the perfect diabetes management nominee [46].…”