The Hypolipidemic Activities of The Tea Extracts of St. John’s Wort Tea, Chamomile Tea and Their Blend at Different Concentrations, Orally Induced on Adult Male Wistar Rats

Abstract

St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla) are parts of well-documented medicinal plants in the world due to their many beneficial effects of which their possible anti-obesity effects were investigated by studying their influence on lipid profile.  Albino Wistar rats were fed with aqueous extracts of St. John’s Wort, Chamomile and their blend teas (10, 30 and 50 mg/kg.BW/ml). The teas were found to lower the serum cholesterol, triacylglyceride, VLDL, LDL, and atherogenic index at their higher concentration, but were found to slightly increase the HDL as compared to the corresponding normal healthy rats fed with clean water (control). The phytochemicals screening of the teas aqueous extract were also investigated, the chemicals (tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids and glycosides) which were known to exhibit cholesterol lowering effect by inhibiting its absorption and simultaneous increase its excretion, were found to be present in the teas extract. Thus, the study demonstrates and validates that St. John’s Wort, Chamomile and their blend possess anti-obesity effect at higher concentration.

Keyword: St. John’s Wort , Chamomile, Phytochemicals, VLDL, HDL, LDL, serum