Aphrodisiac Potential of Methanol Root Extract of Hunteria umbellata in Male Wistar Rats doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v5i9.19

Abstract

Hunteria umbellata (H. umbellata) have been used locally for the treatment of low libido, obesity, diabetes mellitus, infertility, pyresia, pain, hypertension and as immune booster. This study was aim to evaluate the aphrodisiac activity of the methanol root extract of H. umbellata in male Wistar rats. Acute toxicity of the extract was evaluated using standard protocol. The extract at graded doses (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) and reference drug (10 mg/kg sildenafil citrate) were orally administered for 14 days to investigate aphrodisiac property. The female animals were made receptive via artificial hormonal stimulation. The effects of H. umbellata on body and reproductive organ mass indices were determined. The aphrodisiac behaviour monitored were; Mounting Frequency (MF),  Intromission Frequency (IF), Ejaculation Frequency (EF), Mounting Latency (ML), Intromission Latency (IL) and Ejaculation latency (EL). The obtained result showed no mortality or side effects from the acute toxicity study. There was a significant increase in MF, IF, EF, ML, IL and EL as well as a significant increase in serum testosterone level across the treated groups when compared with the control. In conclusion, the result of this study indicates that H. umbellata has aphrodisiac capacity that may be of great ethnomedicinal benefit since there are no adverse toxicity reports.