EVALUATION OF ANTITUSSIVE AND EXPECTORANT POTENTIAL OF ZIZIPHUS MISTOL FRUITS (MISTOL)

Context: Ziziphus mistol (mistol) fruits and their derivate product (arrope) have been traditionally used as food and in folk medicine for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases including bronchopulmonary disorder. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the antitussive and expectorant effects of Z. mistol ethanol extract (EE), aqueous extract (AE) and arrope (Ar). Materials and Methods: The antitussive activity was evaluated using two models against ammonia and citric acid induced cough in rats. The expectorant activity was evaluated by volume of phenol red secretion in rats’ tracheas. The tested doses of extracts were of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg, (p.o.). Results: The aqueous extract and arrope showed the highest activity in all tested models. The arrope, at 1000 mg / kg, proved to be more effective with inhibitions of 79.69% and 93.75% in the number of coughs induced by ammonium liqueur and citric acid, respectively, while it was similar to codeine. Expectorant activity showed an 87.73% increase in red phenol secretion at the same dose, evidencing a higher activity compared to that of other extracts and similar to that of bromhexine. Discussion and Conclusions: This study has shown that EE, AE and Ar, have significant antitussive and expectorant effects. The present results validate their popular use to treat some pathology that affects the respiratory system. Thus, mistol fruits, mainly arrope, are proposed, as excellent phytopharmaco.