Ikpeazu O.V.¹, Elekwa I.¹, Ugbogu A.E.^1,, Arunsi U.O.¹, Uche-Ikonne C.²

Musa paradisiaca Linn. belonging to the family Musaceae is a common medicinal plants use in herbal medicine for the treatment of diseases like diabetics, hypertension and ulcer. This study evaluated the antiulcerogenic potentials of aqueous extract of fermented unripe M. paradisiaca fruits using acetic acid, aspirin, ethanol, indomethacin and pyloric ligation-induced ulcer models at the doses of 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight. Omeprazole at 5 mg/kg was used as a standard reference drug. The result of the acute toxicity test showed that up to 5,000 mg/kg body weight of the extract did not cause any mortality of the wistar rats. The different doses of the extract and the reference drug significantly (p<0.05) decreased all the ulcer parameters (ulcer score and ulcer index) in a dose dependent manner in all the ulcer models. The degree of ulcer index is in the order: Pyloric-ligation (11.33±0.12) < Indomethacin (12.03±0.14) < Acetic acid (12.17±0.23) < Aspirin (13.20±0.10) < Ethanol (15.60±0.40). Similarly, the percentage gastro-protective activity increased from 0% in the negative control up to 23.56% at the dose of 800mg/kg body weight of the extract. The degree of percentage gastro-protection is in the order: Pyloric-ligation (7.93%) < Indomethacin (10.51%) < Acetic acid (13.51%) < Ethanol (22.19%) < Aspirin (23.56%). The enhanced cessation of gastric erosions could be attributed to the synergistic role of probiotics and phytochemicals in the plant extract. In conclusion, fermented unripe M. paradisiaca fruit extract is a good candidate for screening of new antiulcer drugs.

fermented extract, Musa paradisiaca, antiulcerogenic, gastro-protective activity