Establishing some pharmacognostic standards for Nigerian Musa x sapientum L. leaf

Musa x sapientum is well known to Nigerian ethnomedicine and widely cultivated worldwide for its fruit. All the parts have medicinal application. The leaves collected from Abuja, Ibadan, Yenagoa and Owerri, Nigeria were subjected to microscopical examination and physic-chemical experiments in order to provide some pharmacognostic standards for it. The leaf possessed epidermal cells with straight anticlinal walls, bearing fewer stomata on the upper surface than the lower surface that showed numerous anomocytic stomata. The moisture content was (7.6% and 13.0%), water and ethanol soluble extractives (7.9% - 9.5% and 5.9% - 7.3%, respectively), total ash (5.5% - 14.0%), acid insoluble (0.5% - 2.7%) water soluble extractive (3.3% to 7.2%), sulphated ash (4.3% - 8.2%), stomata number and stomata index were 14 ± 0.80 and 16.00 ± 0.76, respectively. This will help to detect adulteration of the powdered sample. Keywords: Adulteration; Standardization; Musa sapientum ; Monograph