Musa paradisiaca L. and Musa sapientum L. (Musaceae) are mainly grown in the
tropical and subtropical countries and are widely used for its nutritional values all over the world.
The fruits as well as the other parts of the plant are used to treat different diseases in human in
traditional medicine. This review presents the scientific information on the traditional uses,
phytochemistry and pharmacology of these two species. Both M. paradisiaca and M. sapientum
are traditionally used in diarrhoea, dysentery, intestinal lesions in ulcerative colitis, diabetes,
sprue, uremia, nephritis, gout, hypertension and cardiac disease. This review reports the
phytochemicals isolated and identified from fruit pulp, peel, seeds and flowers. A comprehensive
assessment of the biological activities of different extracts is included and possible mechanisms
and phytochemicals involved have been correlated