Abstract :The 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.