Pharmacognostical and Histochemical Studies on Apakva Kadali (Unripe Banana Fruit): Musa × paradisiaca L.
ABSTRACT The unripe fruit of Musa × paradisiaca L., classically known as apakva kadali, belonging to the family Musaceae, is used as pathya in atisara (diarrhea), in grahani (irritable bowel syndrome), and agnimandya (loss of appetite). The unripe fruits are considered to be helpful in the management of diabetes mellitus. Being an important medicinal plant, the present investigation is an attempt to explore the pharmacognostical analysis and thin-layer chromatography fingerprint studies on the widely used Musa. × paradisiaca L. The studies revealed that unripe banana fruit showed the presence of small outer protrusion of papillae on the epidermis, abundant tannin-containing cells in the epicarp and mesocarp. Elongated air-spaced cells are surrounded by the parenchyma cells in the epicarp, abundant starch grains in the mesocarp portion, and acicular crystals of calcium oxalate in raphide bundles. To detect the location of various constituents of the drug, sections of unripe fruits were treated with various reagents, and studies showed the presence of phenols, protein, calcium oxalate, magnesium, starch, cellulose, calcium pectate, lignin, sulfated mucopolysaccharides, tannin, and silica contents. Phytochemical studies showed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, phenols, proteins, starch, tannins, steroids, and saponins. How to cite this article Ramasheshan ST, Maramreddy PR, Pitchaiah P, Ramakrishana KK, Bharti V, Gaddam V, Tewari D, Mangal AK, Srikanth N, Dhiman KS. Pharmacognostical and Histochemical Studies on Apakva Kadali (Unripe Banana Fruit): Musa × paradisiaca L. J Drug Res Ayurvedic Sci 2017;2(1):10-17.