Abstract

Alcoholic herbal products have been used for years in folk medicine for its believed increase in sexual desire and pleasure. This study is due to the current upsurge in the use of polyherbal products and coupled with loose regulation on public access to these products, to evaluate their biochemical effect, noting also that many of the polyherbal products lack scientific evidence to support their medicinal claims. The objective is to investigate the potential genotoxicity of some commonly consumed polyherbal formulations (Action bitters, Black wood, Jedi-jedi, Agbara, Orijin bitters), using allium cepa. The method involves onion bulbs that were exposed to varied concentrations of herbal alcoholic productsfor microscopic analysis. Tap water has been used as a negative control. All the tested products have been observed to have genotoxic effects on cell division in Allium cepa, with the highest mitotic index as 59% (orijin bitters 25%) and the lowest being 23% (action bitters 75%). The results showed that all tested concentrations of alcoholic herbal products caused decreased mitotic index value and increased chromosomal aberration of Allium cepa root cells. From the findings, alcoholic polyherbal formulations may possess genotoxic effects.Â