Healing Potential of Carica Papaya Leaf

Carica papaya Linn., (Family: Cariaceae) is a very well known plant which is found in various parts of India. The main aim of this study is to assay the wound healing activity of ethanolic extract of C. papaya leaf by using healthy rats of both sex and almost same age. Three types of models namely excision wound, incision wound and burn wounds which was created on dorsal part of saved rats using a metal rod heated to 80-850 C and exposed for 20 seconds. The effects of ethanolic extract of C. papaya leaf on wound healing were observed by the rate of wound closure, period of epithelialisation and finally wound breaking strength. Povidone iodine ointment (5% w/w) is used as reference for excision and incision wounds models. During this study, it is observed that animals treated with C. papaya ethanolic extract, shows wound healing at a faster rate by comparing with animals treated with povidone iodine ointment. Similarly in burn wound healing study Silver-sulfadiazine used as reference drug for activity comparison and the efficacy of treatment was evaluated based on reduction of burn wound area. The ethanolic extract treated animals showed significant reduction in the burn wound area when compared with control groups. The result of the present study offers pharmacological evidence on the folklore use of C. papaya leaves for healing wounds including burns.