Ann Digest Liver Dis | Volume 1, Issue 2 | Research Article | Open Access
Wilson Ogbonna Ajanwachuku1, Peter Uwadiegwu Achukwu2, Nosa Terry Omorodion2*, Godfrey Innocent Iyare1 and F E Otabor2
1Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nigeria
2Department of Health Services, University of Benin, Nigeria
*Correspondance to: Nosa Terry Omorodion
Fulltext PDFThe use of these substances otherwise known as aphrodisiacs with capacities to arouse or increase sexual drive or libido and the increasing incidence of male sexual dysfunction is necessitating more and rapid search into plants with aphrodisiacs potentials. Unfortunately, effort in resolving issues about infertility via the consumption of several plant products without recourse to the effects of such substance abuse on the cytoarchitectural and function of vital organs in the body like testis, liver, kidneys and the brain.The aim of this study is to determine the effect of the consumption of aqueous extract of black pepper and ginger as aphrodisiacs on the liver, kidneys and testis of male wistar rats.In all, Thirty-six adult Wistar rats were used for this study. They were divided into four equal groups of nine rats each. Group A served as the control and the rats were given distilled water. Group B was fed with blackpepper extract, Group C was fed with ginger extract and D rats were fed with aqueous extract of both blackpepeper and ginger. The substance administration was given daily for 42 days (6 weeks) and the weights of both the test animal and control monitored every 2 week. After the administration, the rats were put under light chloroform anaesthesia and the kidney, liver and testis harvested for histological processing.The histological observations indicated that black pepper, ginger and the combination of both substance at 2 weeks, four weeks and 6 weeks resulted in varying degree of damages to the liver, kidney and testis of the experimental animals. In view of the above observations, it is clear in this study that the dose administered and at every duration used, there are considerable histological damages to these organs. It could therefore be deduced that the repeated consumption of blackpepper and ginger by the experimental animals lead to severe toxicological implication on the kidneys, liver and testis tissue but the extent of damages varies with duration. Based on the histological observation presented in this study, it is recommended that Specific research should be carried out to ascertain its actual dose safe for human consumption. The use of blackpepper and ginger as aphrodisiac and for culinary use should be regulated as prolonged consumption may be harmful to vital body organs.
Zingiber officinale; Piper nigrum; Wistar rat
Ajanwachuku WO, Achukwu PU, Omorodion NT, Iyare GI, Otabor FE. Zingiber officinale and Piper nigrum Consumption as Aphrodisiacs on Viscerals and Testis of Male Wistar Rats. Ann Digest Liver Dis. 2018; 1(2): 1008.