DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2016.v04i02.003

Pages: 299-302

Carica Papaya (C. papaya) is commonly called as paw-paw and it belongs to the family Caricaceae. It have been successfully employed as a folk medicine for many years for the treatment of dengue infections with haemorrhagic manifestations. Since last few decades papaya is known for its food and nutritional values throughout the world. Currently, leaves of C. papaya possess medicinal properties and are widely used in traditional medicines. This review focuses on different properties of papaya as a multi-faceted plant. This study was conducted to evaluate the therapeutic benefits of C. papaya leaves juice on platelet and hematocrit values in patients with dengue fever. A total of 80 patients were enrolled from the tertiary healthcare center in central India. Subjects were randomized into two groups, 40 patients were intervention groups who received two C. papaya leaves extract capsules (CPC) thrice daily and rest 40 were controls. The results this study showed that administration of papaya leaf juice was beneficial in dengue patients in elevating the platelet count (p<0.05) and maintained stability of hematocrit in the normal level in those patients who were subjected to C. papaya leaves extract capsules. In conclusion the Carica papaya leaf extract could be used as an additional or as a complementary drug in dengue fever patients with thrombocytopenia; it accelerates the increase in the platelet count and shorten the hospitalization thereby reducing the cost of hospitalization significantly.