Contraceptive and biochemical effect of juice extract of Allium cepa, Allium sativum, and their combination in Canton S fruit flies

Omowumi T Kayode; Damilare Rotimi; Favor Emmanuel; Matthew Iyobhebhe; Abolanle A A Kayode; Oluwafemi Adeleke Ojo

doi:10.1111/jfbc.13821

Contraceptive and biochemical effect of juice extract of Allium cepa, Allium sativum, and their combination in Canton S fruit flies

J Food Biochem. 2021 Jun 18:e13821. doi: 10.1111/jfbc.13821. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Omowumi T Kayode¹, Damilare Rotimi², Favor Emmanuel², Matthew Iyobhebhe², Abolanle A A Kayode³, Oluwafemi Adeleke Ojo²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biological Sciences, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, Mountain Top University, Prayer City, Nigeria.
² Department of Biochemistry, College of Pure and Applied Sciences, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Nigeria.
³ Department of Biochemistry, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Nigeria.

PMID: 34145617
DOI: 10.1111/jfbc.13821

Abstract

This study determines the contraceptive activity of Allium sativa (Garlic) and Allium cepa (Onion) juices on reproductive output and development of Drosophila melanogaster. The fruit flies were divided and grouped into 5, group A serves as the control, group B serves as the onion group, group C serves as the garlic group, group D serves as the onion + garlic group, while group E serves as the standard contraceptive group. Biochemical parameters measured were superoxide dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT), Glutathione-S-transferase (GST), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitric oxide (NO), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, mating test, and negative geotaxis. There was a significant reduction in the levels of MDA in onion, garlic, onion + garlic groups when compared with the control, in contrast, a significant increase was observed in SOD, CAT, and GST activities. Furthermore, there was a significant reduction in nitric oxide levels in garlic, onion + garlic extract with a corresponding increase in the standard contraceptive group. There was a significant reduction in the concentration of TC and HMG-CoA in garlic and standard contraceptive groups when compared with the control while triglyceride revealed a considerable increase in the garlic group when compared with the control. The mating test showed there was a considerable reduction in the onion, garlic, onion + garlic, and standard contraceptive when compared with the control. Taken together, Allium sativum proved to serve as a better contraceptive in D. melanogaster as a possible effective option for contraceptives, which is further, supported by their strong antioxidant activity. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: A. cepa and A. sativum are sources of dietary phytocompounds with proven antioxidant activities. The contraceptive activity of A. cepa and A. sativum juice extract was investigated. The results showed that A. cepa and A. sativum and their combination prove to serve as a better effective option for contraceptives in D. melanogaster. The observed results could provide the potential application of A. cepa and A. sativum as an alternative therapy for contraceptives.

Keywords: Allium cepa; Allium sativum; Drosophila melanogaster; contraceptive; reproduction.