PREBIOTIC PROPERTIES OF SOME TRADITIONAL APHRODISIAC PLANTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ESTROBOLOME, TESTOBOLOME, AND SEXUAL HEALTH IN WEST AFRICA

Omotoso O.G., Oloyede K. M.*, Sangodare A. O., Gbotoso S. A., Okhuoya T. G., Ogunsona S. B.

ABSTRACT

The voluntary consumption of traditional aphrodisiacs is a deeply rooted socio-cultural and therapeutic phenomenon across West Africa. Historical ethnobotanical and pharmacological frameworks have generally attributed their effects to localized vascular, neuroendocrine, or nitric oxide pathways. Emerging multi-omic evidence suggests that these effects may also involve a less-studied systemic axis mediated by the gastrointestinal microbiome. This review synthesizes the current, largely preclinical evidence on bidirectional interactions between West African botanical and dietary aphrodisiacs such as Cyperus esculentus (Tiger nut), Carpolobia lutea, Microdesmis keayana, and Mondia whitei and the colonic microbial ecology. We outline how the structural polysaccharides, polyphenols, and alkaloids within these matrices may function as selective prebiotic substrates, capable of supporting beneficial taxa including Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. We also examine the proposed mechanistic roles of the estrobolome and testobolome microbial gene ensembles encoding β-glucuronidases and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases which have been hypothesized to influence host systemic sex steroid bioavailability via deconjugation and reductive metabolic pathways. Finally, we situate these interactions within the gut metagenomic profiles reported for West African populations, discussing potential, as-yet-unconfirmed implications for erectile function, libido, spermatogenesis, and endocrine balance, and outline a roadmap for the clinical research needed to test these hypotheses directly.

Keywords: Aphrodisiac, ethnobotanical, gut microbiota, prebiotic, estrobolome, testobolome.