Psidium guajava Linn confers gastro protective effects on rats.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The best alternatives to synthetic medicines, available, for the treatment of gastric ulcer disorders, are the natural products found in plants. They are known to exhibit a variety of activities. The present study is aimed at the screening of Psidium (P.) guajava Linn for its gastro protective effect. MATERIAL AND METHODS The methanol extracts of the leaves of P. guajava were tested in three different ulcer models viz. aspirin (ASP), pyloric ligation (PL) and ethanol (EtoH) induced ulcer models in rats. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The treatment of P. guajava at varying doses (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.001) inhibited the gastric lesions induced by ASP (70.5%), PL (65.07%) and EtoH (70.4%) respectively and the potency was found to be equivalent as compared to the standard drug, omeprazole. Reduction in the gastric secretory volume, acid secretion and increased gastric pH were the factors observed in treated rats. The presence of volatile oil, flavonoids and saponins present in the extracts of P. guajava may be responsible for the anti-ulcer property exhibited. CONCLUSIONS The results further suggest that P. guajava possess gastro protective as well as ulcer healing properties which might also be due to its anti-secretory properties.