QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF HERBAL APHRODISIAC PRODUCTS; PHYSICOCHEMICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

A huge population is using herbal products for the treatment of various ailments such as erectile dysfunction, hypertension, cancer, and asthma. Substantial amounts of these products have been reported to have poor quality. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of some herbal aphrodisiac products vis-à-vis their physicochemical properties and phytochemical constituents, a total of 22 samples were collected. Weight uniformity, moisture content, water and ethanol extractable substances, total ash values, water-soluble ash and acid-insoluble ash values were determined using standard methods. Phytochemical constituents of the products were also determined using standard methods. Only three samples passed the weight uniformity test as none of the dose units deviated by more than 7.5 % as stipulated by British pharmacopoeia. The moisture content of the samples ranged from 3.67 – 9.33 % with two samples being more than the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) limit. Only 13 % of the ethanol extractive values were found to be above the minimum limit while none of the water extractable values of the sample is above the minimum limit. The range for total ash values (3.67 - 9.33) of all the samples were within the European pharmacopoeia (EP) limit. The water-soluble ash and acid-insoluble ash values were within the ranges of 7.33 – 14.00 % and 2.83 - 13.17 % respectively. Alkaloids, flavonoids, carbohydrates and steroids were found in all the samples. The analyzed samples contain alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids and carbohydrates which are vital in enhancing penile erection however, none of the samples passed all the quality assessments, hence are of poor quality.