STUDIES ON THE PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, IN-VITRO ANTIOXIDANT AND IN-VIVO TOXICITY OF BANANA INFLORESCENCE

The current study aimed at investigating the phyto-chemical constituents, in-vitro antioxidant activity and in-vivo acute oral toxicity of Banana inflorescence (blossom) of Musa acuminate. All the experiments were conducted using standard procedures. The results of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of different types of secondary metabolites like alkaloids, phenols, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, tannins, and glycosides.  The acute toxicity study was conducted in Wister albino rats. The Banana inflorescence was administered as a single dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight and observed the behavioral changes and mortality rates. In this study, no visible behavioral changes and mortality observed up to 2000 mg/kg of the Wister albino rats. The antioxidant activity of Banana inflorescence was evaluated by DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Rutin was used as a reference compound. The IC₅₀ value of Banana inflorescence was found to be 46.47372 % and the standard rutin was 27.69024%. We conclude that Banana inflorescence extract did not exhibit any toxic effects on mice. This extract also possesses many phytochemicals and significant antioxidant activity. Therefore, Banana inflorescence may be useful for therapeutic purposes.