Efficacy of a functional food ingredient from Ensete superbum Roxb. Cheesman peel in reducing the severity of ulcerative colitis in a murine model.

Ulcerative colitis is a recurrent inflammatory illness of the colon with an elevated risk of developing colon cancer. The drugs presently used to treat UC cause adverse effects and are limited to symptomatic treatments. To overcome these constraints, naturally derived novel alternative therapies are being tested. Ensete superbum Roxb. Cheesman (wild banana) is used as a folk medicinal plant to treat stomach aches, diarrhea, and dysentery. Previous research has shown that a peel dioxane (PD) fraction obtained from a ripe peel aqueous extract of E. superbum Roxb. Cheesman possesses in vitro antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-colon cancer effects. Furthermore, it has been shown to alleviate 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in rats. The current study intended to evaluate its efficacy as a functional dietary component added to cold pressed orange juice in colitic rats, and deduce the molecular processes involved in UC amelioration. The PD fraction in orange juice ameliorated colitis by modulating the oxidative stress and inflammatory parameters in the damaged tissue with improved healing activity as indicated by a lower disease activity index (DAI) score. The ameliorative effect was related to the inhibition of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway by downregulating the expression levels of NFκBp65, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, followed by the recovery of epithelial barrier integrity. The ameliorating effects were statistically similar ( p > 0.05) to those of the standard sulfasalazine treated population. The results suggest that PD fractions can be used as a new functional food and as an adjuvant to prevent IBDs due to their anti-colitic effect; however, it needs to be confirmed in clinical trials.