Abstract

The use of the herb in the management of various ailments has been brought to light, due to their ethnomedicinal claims, the fruit of Elaeis guineensis (EG) is claimed to possess aphrodisiac properties. The aim of this study is to investigate the aphrodisiac potential of EG. 

EG fruit was obtained from a local market, identified and extracted, presence of phytochemicals in EG was determined using the standard methods. Female animals are artificially brought into oestrus by the administration of ethinyloestradiol orally at a dose of 100µg per animal 48 hours prior to mating and progesterone subcutaneously at a dose of 1mg per animal 6 hours prior to mating. The Mounting frequency, intromission frequency, Ejaculatory frequency, Mount Latency, intromission latency, Ejaculatorylatency and Anogenital grooming were evaluated at 200, 400, and 800mg/kg.

 Alkaloids, saponin, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins and steroidal nuclei were identified as phytochemicals found in EG fruits. The aqueous crude extract of EGfruit was observed to produce increases in mounting frequency, intermission frequency, ejaculatory frequency and anogenital grooming compared to the controls, these increases were not dose-dependent. From the results it can be concluded that EGfruit does not possess aphrodisiac properties, hereby debunking the claim.

Keywords: Aphrodisiac, Elaeisguineensis, sexual parameters, phytochemical screening