The blood sugar lowering effects of P. marsupium were well known in India long before pharmacological studies of the tree were undertaken. Diabetics in the rural areas of Chatisgarh (region of Madhya Pradesh) would drink water from tumblers carved from the wood of P. marsupium or drink water in which a piece of the wood had been immersed, and they were said to feel better.

Aqueous and alcoholic extracts of the bark and heartwood have been administered with success to diabetic animal models; and tablets, granules decoctions, and other preparations containing P. marsupium (heartwood identified as plant part utilized in some articles), alone or as a multi-ingredient formulations, have also been successful in reducing the blood sugar of diabetic humans.