REVIEW ARTICLE The pharmacological potentials of Musa paradisiaca Linn. Ridwan Olamilekan Adesola Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 900001, Nigeria *Email: radesola758@stu.ui.edu.ng ARTIC LE HISTORY Received: 24 December 2020 Accepted: 15 March 2021 Available online: 18 August 2021 KEYWORDS Non-communicable diseases Musa paradisiaca Nutritonal values Phytochemical screening Pharmacological potentals ABSTRACT Musa paradisiaca Linn. (Plantain or cooking banana) is among the major crops that are being cultvated by farmers and serve as the main food crop for both animals and humans in some parts of the world. It shows several benefcial propertes. In traditonal medicine, the fruits in additon to the other parts of the plant such as the stalk, peel, pulp and leaf are used to treat diferent diseases in humans. This review presents the scientfc informaton on the pharmacological potentals, possible nutritonal values and phytochemicals of this Musa species. It is a source of carbohydrate that can easily be digestble and also provides vital vitamins like vitamin B complex, vitamin C and a lot of minerals like potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) etc. Most of the in vitro studies, in vivo (animal model) studies and clinical trials, propose that innumerable banana and plantain parts have been utlized in traditonal medicine for the treatment of countless non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer, hypertension, atherosclerosis, ulcers, urolithiasis and Alzheimer’s infecton. Also, this review reports the phytocompounds isolated through the use of diferent solvents for extracton of the plant’s parts. A comprehensive assessment of the biological actvites of diferent extracts is included and possible mechanisms and phytochemicals involved have been correlated. Introducton Musa paradisiaca Linn. often referred to as plantain or cooking banana is an herbaceous flower-producing plant. It is a native to India and the southern part of Asia but at present, it has been grown in virtually all subtropical and tropical regions of Africa as well as Nigeria. Nigeria produced over 2.11 million metric tons of plantains per annum which contribute extensively to the sustenance of subtropical native populations (1). Without any doubt, banana is known to be among the cheapest, widespread and beneficial food in the entire humid and temperate region of the world, with a reaped area of roughly 10 million per hectare (2). M. paradisiaca is in Musaceae family which made up of three genera, Musa, Ensete and Musella. Musa is the largest group among the three genera, with about 35 species that include Musa acumiata, Musa balbisiana and Musa sapietum etc. Musa species are divided into different divisions. According to latest DNA work, there are three divisions: Musa (with 22 chromosomes), Callimusa (with 20 chromosomes) and Ingentimusa (with 14 chromosomes). M. paradisiaca grows up in length to about 9 m, with yellowish or greenish unsown moon-shaped fruits in a bunch form, up to 7 cm long based on species and available nutrients in the soil (3, 4). M. paradisiaca is pollinated by wind which propagates principally by seeds on the long narrow spikes glowing above the vegetation. The growth of M. paradisiaca in compacted soils is more compared to any other herbaceous plants. It can be found copious alongside paths, roadside, riverbank and other regions with smooth soil. This plant can as well be found in savanna and the midst of crops as a weed. In South and Central America, Asia and Africa, M. paradisiaca provides food containing mainly starch of significance in both humans and animals (5). M. paradisiaca provides over 200 calories (food energy) per day for almost 600 million people in Africa. Recently, there have been indications of developing importance in plants as a substantial source of first-hand medicines. In developing countries like Nigeria, a large number of people have recourse to the use of various parts of plant for the treatment of ailments. Possibly because the world has shifted to the utilization of natural resources other than man-made drugs or the high price of conventional services provided by health professionals (6). A lot of drugs produced today are derived from plant sources, for instance, digoxin is synthesized from Digitalis lanata, quinidine with © Adesola (2021). This is an open-access artcle distributed under the terms of the Creatve Commons Atributon License, which permits unrestricted use, distributon and reproducton in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited (htps://creatvecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). PLANT SCIENCE TODAY, 2021 Vol 8(4): 873–879 https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.2021.8.4.1066 ISSN 2348-1900 (online) HORIZON e-Publishing Group