INTRODUCTION:

Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before the prehistoric period. They have been used from ancient times to treat various infections due to the presence of natural compounds (Naikwade, P. V et al., 2014). Treatment with medicinal plants is considered very safe as there are no or minimal side effects. Medicinal plants are considered as a rich resource of ingredients which can be used in the development of drugs. One such plant with a number of medicinal importance is the Banana plant. Each part of the banana plant such as fruit, flower, stem and leaf have various health benefits for humans (Gunavathy, N et al., 2014).

The leaves of the Banana plant are large, spirally arranged (Wasule, D et al., 2018) and have been used as decorations, wrappings and for cooking purposes (Meenashree, B et al., 2014). Studies have shown that the leaves of banana plants have various antimicrobial as well as wound healing activity due to the presence of phytochemical compounds (Ariandi, D et al., 2017). It also contains a large number of phenolic compounds as Chief plant constituent which exhibits antioxidant and anti - inflammatory properties (Nicholson, R. L and Hammerschmidt, R. 1992). In addition, the leaves of banana plants are smooth, hence used as dressing material in burn patients (Gore, M. A and Akolekar, D. 2003). Hence, the current study was attempted to formulate herbal ingredient (Banana leaf) into topical dosage form (Ointment) for effective and safer treatment for bacterial skin infections and the developed formulations were evaluated for its physical parameters and antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa sp.

METHODOLOGY:

Collection, Extraction and Characterization of Plant Material: (Sivasamugham, L. A et al., 2020):

The leaves of Musa paradisiaca were collected, cleaned, shade dried for 24hours and dried in a hot air oven at 60°C for another 10 hours. The dried leaves were powdered, sieved and about 500 grams of powdered banana leaves were taken and extracted using ethyl acetate as a solvent by soxhlet extraction method. Then the extract was evaluated for its physical parameters.

Phytochemical Analysis of Banana Leaf Extract (Rinky et al., 2016):

The extract of banana leaves was screened qualitatively for the presence of various phytoconstituents such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, protein, amino acids and phenolic compounds.

Gas chromatography - mass spectroscopy (Koushik et al., 2010):

The ethyl acetate extract of banana leaves was subjected for GC-MS analysis on a GC-MS Shimadzu GCMS - QP2010 Plus system. Sample injected in a volume of 1ml and helium was used as a carrier gas. The column flow rate was maintained at 1.00mL/min. Column temperature started at 50°C, held for 1 min and finally ramped to 280°C, held for 5 mins.

Antibacterial activity of banana leaf Extract:

The inoculums were prepared and compared with McFarland standards. Sterile petri dishes were filled with Mueller Hinton Agar (MHA) medium which was then inoculated with test organisms such as S. aureus and P. aeruginosa with sterile swab. 5 wells were created and samples of various dilutions such as 50μl, 75μl, 100μl, 125μl, 150μl, 250μl and 350μl of banana leaf extract were prepared and uniform volume of 100μl solution was added to respective well along with controls. Plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours and the diameter of the growth inhibition zones were measured in mm.

Ointment Formulation:

The ointment was formulated using Carbopol – 940(1%), propylene glycol 400(4%), ethanol (3%), methyl paraben (0.2%), Propylparaben (0.02%), EDTA (0.03%), triethanolamine and distilled water (upto 100%) sufficient to prepare 100g of ointment. Water required for these formulations was divided into two parts. In one part the exact amount of extract, propylene glycol 400 and ethanol was added. And in another part, carbapol-940 was dissolved and to this solution methylparaben, propyl paraben and EDTA was added. Both of these solutions were mixed in a beaker and triethanolamine was added to the mixture drop wise to obtain the ointment consistency.

Evaluation of Ointment:

Physical parameter:

The formulated ointment was tested for its appearance and homogeneity by visual observation.

Measurement of Ph:

The pH of formulation was determined using a pH meter. One gram of ointment was dissolved in 100ml of distilled water and stored for 2hours. Then the measurement of pH was determined for the formulation.

Determination of Viscosity:

The measurement of viscosity of prepared ointment was carried out with the help of Brookfield viscometer. The reading was taken at 100rpm using spindle no: 06.

Spreadability Test:

The spread ability of the ointment formulation was determined by measuring the spreading diameter of 1 g of ointment between two horizontal plates (20cm X 20 cm) after one minute. The standard weight applied on the upper plate was 125g.

Antibacterial Activity of an Ointment

The inoculums were prepared and sterile petri dishes were filled with MHA medium which was then inoculated with test organisms such as S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. 2 wells were created and a uniform volume of 100μl of the developed ointment was added to each well along with the positive control. Plates were incubated at 37°C for 24hours and the diameter of the growth inhibition zones were measured in mm.

RESULTS:

EVALUATION OF BANANA LEAF EXTRACT:

Characteristics of banana leaf extract:

The physical state was found to be semisolid, green in colour with characteristic odour.

Phytochemical analysis of banana leaf extract:

Phytochemical investigation of banana leaf extract revealed the presence of many compounds Table 1.

Gas chromatography - Mass spectroscopy:

GC - MS analysis revealed the presence 189 compounds from ethyl acetate extract of banana leaves fig (1 - 4).

Table 2: Zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus

Organism	Sensitive ab linezolid (10mg/ml)	Resistant ab ampicillin (10mg/ml)	Solvent (ethyl acetate)	Crude	Test sample (mg /ml)	Zone of inhibition (mm)
S. aureus	45mm	30mm	-	-	50	-
	45mm	30mm	-	-	75	3mm
	45mm	30mm	-	-	100	7mm
	45mm	30mm	-	-	125	10mm
	45mm	30mm	-	-	150	16mm
	45mm	30mm	-	-	250	20mm
	45mm	30mm	-	-	350	22mm

Table 3: Zone of inhibition against Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Organism	Sensitive ab Doxycycline (10mg/ml)	Resistant ab Tetracycline (10mg/ml)	Solvent (ethyl acetate)	Crude	Test sample (mg /ml)	Zone Of inhibition (mm)
P. aeruginosa	29mm	18mm	-	-	50	-
	29mm	18mm	-	-	75	-
	29mm	18mm	-	-	100	-
	29mm	18mm	-	-	125	-
	29mm	18mm	-	-	150	-
	29mm	18mm	-	-	250	11mm
	29mm	18mm	-	-	350	16mm

Ointment Formulation:

Ointment containing banana leaf extract was incorporated into an optimized 1% Carbopol base Fig 5.

Fig 5: Formulated ointment

EVALUATION OF OINTMENT:

Physical parameters

Physical parameters were checked and the appearance of the formulated ointment was found to be transparent, dark green with absence of aggregates.

Measurement of pH, Viscosity and Spreadability:

The results of pH, Viscosity and spreadability were shown in Table 4.

Table 4: pH, Viscosity and Spreadability measurement

Parameters	Formulated ointment	Standard ointment (Diclofenac Sodium)
pH	6.45	6.8
Viscosity	278.0 (cP)	100 (cP)
Spreadability	62 (mm)	64 (mm)

Antibacterial activity of formulated ointment:

The antimicrobial activity of formulated ointment was shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Zone of inhibition (mm)

Organisms	Standard ointment	Formulated ointment
S. aureus	13mm	6mm
P. aeruginosa	10mm	4mm

DISCUSSION:

Skin infections usually resolve in a few days but in some conditions, it creates a major burden in the patients. Therefore, natural products become a great target. Plants are found to have potentially useful constituents; thus, can be used for the development of new therapeutic agents. Topical applications such as ointment offer great advantages such as faster release of drugs into the site of action than the other products. Musa paradisiaca, have been used through ages in traditional medicine and known to possess antioxidant, antibacterial and wound healing activity (Ariandi et al., 2017). However, their application and use in the raw form onto the skin surface is difficult, this study aimed to develop an ointment from the extract of banana leaves.

In the present study, phytochemical screening was performed and results revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, carbohydrate and phenolic compounds. It shows resemblance with the findings of study done by Rinky Bisht et al., (2016) who performed phytochemical analysis for ethyl acetate extract of banana leaves and reported the presence of these compounds. In antimicrobial activity, different concentrations of banana leaf extract were tested against selected strains such as S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. However, the banana leaf extract differed in their antimicrobial activity against tested organisms at various concentrations, it showed better results. The findings of this present study correspond with the results of Naikwade P. V et al., (2014), Sivasamugham, L. A et al., (2021) who observed banana leaves have antibacterial activities. The extract was formulated into an ointment using carbopol as a base. The prepared formulation were evaluated for its physical parameters and revealed the ideal characteristics of an ointment, which was similar to the physicochemical results observed in the study performed by Suyash J, D et al., (2022). Also, Oyeyemi S D et al., (2019) revealed the potential activity of banana leaf extract, which is found to be similar to the present study. Thus, this study indicates, the formulated ointment may offer an alternative treatment against bacterial skin infections.

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Received on 17.05.2024 Revised on 14.01.2025

Accepted on 13.05.2025 Published on 04.10.2025

Available online from October 10, 2025

Asian J. Res. Pharm. Sci. 2025; 15(4):349-354.

DOI: 10.52711/2231-5659.2025.00051

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.

Constituents	Result
Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Terpenoids, Phenolic compounds, Carbohydrate and Fatty acid	Positive
Saponin, Tannin, Gum & mucilage, Protein & amino acids	Negative