Plant description Ficus racemosaLinn. (Family: Moraceae), which is considered sacred, has golden coloured exudates and black bark (Joy et al., 2001). It’s native to Australia, South-East Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The plant is frequently found around the water streams and is also cultivated (Joseph and Raj, 2010). It is a large deciduous tree up to 18m high, leaves are ovate, ovate-lanceolate or elliptic, sub-acute, entire and petiolate and are shed usually by December and replenished by January and April, when the tree becomes bare for a short period. It has evergreen leaves; if it is close to a water source (Paarakh, 2009). Figs are subglobose or pyriform, red when ripe, borne in large clusters, on short, leafless branches emerging from the trunk and the main branches (Cooke, 1967). The tree is without aerial roots unlike its many family members (Anita and Mittal, 2011). Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Moraceae Genus: Ficus Species: Ficus racemosa Synonym: Ficus glomerata Roxb. Common names: Jagadumur, Gulangdumur, Yajnadumbar, Udumbara, Gular fig, Cluster fig, Indian fig, Country fig, Goolar Fig, Atti etc.Selection, maintenance and management of experimental animals: The study was carried out in the Department of Anatomy and Histology of Bangladesh Agricultural University in support of Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of Bangladesh,during January 2014 to June 2015. Young Swiss-albinomice of either sex (aged 4-5 weeks; average weight 25-28g) were purchased from the Animal Research Branch of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B). The collected mice had neither any developmental disorders, detectable genital diseases nor other diseases that may cause any problem in the experiment or affect the result of the experiment. They were kept in standard environmental condition (room temperature 25.0 ± 3.0 °C, humidity 35-60% and 12 hours light and 12 hours dark cycle) for one week for acclimatization after their purchase. The mice were provided with experimental & normal feeding (standard mice-pellets collected from ICDDR,B) and watering ad libitum. Excreta were removed from the cages on everyday. During the experimental period uniformity of the management practices was maintained. The mice were treated in accordance with the institutional and governmental guiding principles and the study was approved by the Ethics in Animal Research Committee of the Bangladesh Agricultural University. Plant extraction method: The fruits of Ficus racemosa were collected from Bangladesh Agricultural University botanical garden. The botanical identity of this plant was determined by the descriptions given and authenticated by the Crop Botany Department of Bangladesh Agricultural University. The selected part (fruits) was cut into small pieces and dried in sunlight. The dried parts were then grinded to make fine powder with the help of a suitable grinder. Dry powder was dissolved in 95% ethanol (three times more in volume) in a clean, flat-bottomed conical flask for 5 days with occasional shaking and stirring. The whole mixture was successively filtered through a piece of clean, white cotton material and Whatman filter paper (Bibby RE 200, Sterilin Ltd., UK). The filtrate was evaporated using rotary evaporator (BUCHI Rota vapor R-114) connected with BUCHI water bath B-480 at 700C and dried ethanolic extract was obtained. Both powder and ethanol extracts were kept in the refrigerator (Bhuyan et al., 2010). Preparation of dosage of plant extract: The crude extract obtained from fruit was dissolved in 99% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to prepare the solution where each 0.1 ml contained 250 mg Ficus racemosa extract. 0.1 ml of each solution was administered by means of micropipette everyday/mice during treatment to achieve required dose of respective agents (Nahar et al., 2010).Induction and confirmation of experimental diabetes: At first body weight of each mouse was calculated. Then required amount of alloxan monohydrate was measured according to the body weight by following the dose of 150 mg of alloxan monohydrate/kg b.w. of mice. Then calculated amount of alloxan monohydrate/mice was dissolved in 0.1 ml of sterile normal saline water. Diabetes was induced by single intra-peritoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate (150 mg/kg body weight) dissolved in normal saline, after an overnight fast (access to water only) of 12 hours to make animals more susceptible to develop diabetes (Sophia and Manoharan, 2007). After 1 hour of alloxan administration, the mice were given feed ad libitum and 5% dextrose solution in feeding bottle for a day to overcome the early hypoglycemic phase. On the third day, a blood drop was taken from the tail vain and glucose level was measured with the help of commercially available glucose strips and Kare Blood Glucose Meter, Taiwan. Mice with fasting blood glucose value of 9.7mmol/L (equal to fasting serum glucose concentration of 11.0mmol/L) or above were considered as hyperglycemic and used for the experiments. Experimental design: Twenty (20) Swiss albino mice were divided into four (4) groups (each of which had 5 mice) as the control group (C), diabetic control group (DC), glibenclamide treated group (GL) and Ficus racemosa extract treated group (FR). Total tenure for this experiment was 40 days. The first 10 (ten) days were for the induction of diabetic condition in mice and plant extract preparation and the following 30 (thirty) days were for treatment with standard drug and plant extracts. The 4 (four) groups of mice were as follows: Group-A: Control (C), mice served as positive control; Group-B: Diabetic Control (DC), diabetes was induced by single intra-peritoneal injection of alloxan monohydrate (150mg/kg body weight); Group-C: Glibenclamide treated (GL). Mice were administered with Glibenclamide @ 600μg/kg body weight orally once daily for 30 days; Group-D: Ficus racemosa extract treated(FR). Mice were administered with Ficus racemosa fruit ethanolic extract @ 250mg/kg body weight orally once daily for 30 days.