Abstract

This study was performed to determine the safety or otherwise of Carica papaya seeds used as food condiment on pre-implantation embryo development in female Wistar rats. Rats were divided into 5 major groups: Group I served as control, groups II and III were given the fermented extract at 500 and 1500 mg/kg respectively; groups IV and V were given the unfermented extract at 500 and 1500 mg/kg respectively. They were fed the extracts from GD1 to GD5 and on GD6, they were euthanized. The number of implantation sites (7.13 ± 1.06) and percentage pre-implantation loss (57.75 ± 5.00%) in rats administered aqueous extract of the unfermented seeds at 1500 mg/kg was significantly different (P < 0.05) than the control (12.17 ± 1.01 and 19.00 ± 1.65%, respectively) and other groups. There was no significant difference in the number of corpora lutea in all experimental groups compared to the control (15.00 ± 1.21). Results showed an increase in weight during pre-implantation, except those given the unfermented extract at 1500 mg/kg. In conclusion, the unfermented seed extract of C. papaya at 1500 mg/kg resulted in higher pre-implantation losses, thus indicating its contraceptive ability, while the fermented extract did not have such effect and may be safe as a food condiment.

Key words: Papaya seeds, fermentation, abortifacient, anti-implantation, Copora lutea.