Purpose: To investigate the ameliorative effect of ethanolic extract of Carica papaya leaves in alloxan induced diabetic rats. Methods: Rats were randomly divided into five groups of eight animals each. Group A (control) comprised normal healthy animals which were orally administered 1.0 ml of distilled water daily for 21 days while groups B – E consisted of alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Group...

Ficin is the name given to the proteolytic enzyme activity of the latex of trees of the genus Ficus (1). While this proteolytic activity has been utilized for centuries and Walti (2) crystallized a proteolytic enzyme from fig latex, little is known of the physical, chemical, and enzymatic properties of this activity. The information available on ficin indicates that it closely resembles papain ...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the antimicrobial activity and phytochemical screening of Carica papaya, Piper nigrum and Datura stramonium plant extracts. Ethanol and Methanol were used as the solvents for extraction. The antimicrobial activities of these plant extracts were tested against the drug resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains. The bacteria used i...

Diabetes mellitus is the most important metabolic disorder worldwide. Use of medicinal plants for lowering blood glucose is clinically important in diabetic individuals. In this respect, the effect of oral administration of aromatic water of leaves of Ficus carica on blood glucose level in diabetic rats was investigated. In this experimental study, male rats Sprague Dawley (n=80, 200-250 g), di...

The pilot study was conducted to investigate the platelet increasing property of Carica papaya leaf extract (CPLE) in patients with dengue fever (DF). An open labeled randomized controlled trial was carried out at two centres of Bangalore metropolis on 30 subjects in patients with thrombocytopenia associated with dengue. The subjects were randomized into two groups, as control and intervention ...

The genetic diversity in Tunisian fig (Ficus carica L.) was studied using RAPD markers. Thirty-five fig cultivars originating from diverse geographical areas and belonging to three collections were analysed. Random decamer primers were screened to assess their ability to detect polymorphisms in this crop. Forty-four RAPD markers were revealed and used to survey the genetic diversity and to dete...

In traditional medicine, Carica papaya leaf has been used for a wide range of therapeutic applications including skin diseases and cancer. In this study, we investigated the in vitro cytotoxicity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Carica papaya leaves on the human oral squamous cell carcinoma SCC25 cell line in parallel with non-cancerous human keratinocyte HaCaT cells. Two out of four extrac...

Carica papaya (papaya) seed germinate readily fresh from the fruit, but desiccation induces a dormant state. Dormancy can be released by exposure of the hydrated seed to a pulse of elevated temperature, typical of that encountered in its tropical habitat. Carica papaya is one of only a few species known to germinate in response to heat shock (HS) and we know little of the mechanisms that contro...