Consumption of banana flower as a vegetable is popular among many countries in Southeast
Asia. In this study, banana flowers of six different Malaysian cultivars namely, pisang Abu
(Musa balbisiana cv P. Abu), pisang Berangan (Musa acuminata cv P. Berangan), pisang
Nipah (Musa balbisiana cv P. Nipah), pisang Susu (Musa acuminata cv P. Susu), pisang
Mas (Musa acuminate cv P. Mas) and pisang Rastali (Musa paradisiaca cv P. Rastali) were
investigated for their antioxidant and anti-hyperglyemic properties. The total poly phenolic
content and antioxidant activities, the α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibitory potentials of the
banana flower extracts were studied in vitro using relevant assays. Among the six cultivars,
cultivar Susu was found to have the highest phenolic content (80.13 ± 4.64 mg of GAE/g of
extract) and displayed the highest ABTS+ and DPPH radical scavenging activities (24.73 ±
0.04 and 25.10 ± 0.15 µmole of Trolox equivalent/g of extract). The anti-amylase and antiglucosidase
activity of the banana flowers extracts were in the range of 47.31-62.58% and
74.98-91.62%, respectively. All banana flower extracts inhibited the activity of α-glucosidase
better than α-amylase at the concentration of 200 µg/ml. This study concluded that the extracts
of Malaysian banana flowers were potent sources of natural antioxidants, which can be used as
postprandial hyperglycemia regulators.