Medicinal Plants Used as Aphrodisiacs in Niger Republic

Abstract

For centuries, man has sought to enhance his sexual vitality or to combat impotence through traditional knowledges based on aphrodisiac substances. Several ethnobotanical surveys that were conducted in Niger republic have mentioned a number of plants as aphrodisiacs. This work aims to review and present in one single paper a list of medicinal plants that are often used as aphrodisiacs for the management of sexual dysfunction. The information were extracted from reports, published and unpublished dissertations, as well as scientific papers using online databases. A total of 38 aphrodisiac plant species belonging to 22 families were recorded. The families Fabaceae (10 species) and Rubiaceae (5 species) were found with the highest recorded number of plant species, with the roots being the most used plant parts. 25 (65.78%) out of the 38 species were cited for the first time as aphrodisiac plant and constitute one of the contributions of the present review. Overall, this review contributes to a better understanding of the traditional use of aphrodisiac plants in Niger republic. However, none of the cited plants have been scientifically proven to possess aphrodisiac properties. Therefore, the need for laboratory based studies should be carried out on these plants in order to verify there pharmacological properties and safety.