Evaluation of Anti-Diarrhoea Potential of Watermelon Seed (Citrullus lanatus) in Albino Rats

Citrullus lanatus (watermelon) is a popular fruit consumed all over the world. This study was aimed at evaluating the effect of Citrullus lanatus seeds extract for its anti-diarrhoea potential. N-hexane was used for the extraction. 20 laboratory rats were used for this experiment, the animals where group in 5 groups of 4 in each group. Group 1 severed as the control which received normal feed and water, group 2, 3 and 4 severed as the treated which received 100, 200, 300 mg/kg of the seed extract respectively while group 5 severed as the standard which received 5 mg/kg of standard drugs (loperamide). The extract of Citrullus lanatus seed was administered to the animals for possible inhibition of castor oil induced diarrhoea. The result of this study showed that there was a significant decrease in the intestinal propulsion of charcoal meal in rats. There was also a significant loss of electrolytes shown in the control, compared with other groups. The study showed that the seed extract of Citrullus lanatus seed could possess anti-diarrhoea activity.