Taranjabin, a manna produced by the insect, Poophilus nebulous, on camelthorn, Alhagi camelorum, has been used as laxative in traditional medicine. The current research has aimed to scientifically evaluate the laxative and purgative effects of this manna on rats. Taranjabin was gavaged to healthy rats (n=7) at single doses of 2.5g/kg, and its laxative and purgative effects were studied according to the feces count, feces weight and feces water percent during the next 24h following treatment. The control group (n=7) was treated exactly the same but received placebo. The feces count was higher in the test group during the second 8h following the treatment (32.1±2.7 vs 14.7±2.8, p<0.001). The feces weight was significantly higher in the test group during the second and the third 8h (9.9±1.3 and 5.8±0.7 vs 4.5±0.8 and 3.4±0.5, respectively). The feces water percentage showed a rather similar pattern, being significantly higher during the second and the third 8h compared to the control group (69.7±1.4 and 71.7±2.1 vs 64.6±2.7 and 64.9±3.2, respectively). The current results suggest an efficient laxative effect for the manna of taranjabin in rats.

Keywords