The juice of Solanum anomalum leaf and fruit, Solanum macrocapon fruit and Solanum melongena fruit were investigated for their possible hypolipidemic potentials in hypercholesterolemia induced albino rats by feeding the animals with normal diet supplemented with 1% egg yolk and 1% groundnut oil for 2weeks. Hypercholesterolemic rats were thereafter treated with normal diet and oral administration of 2ml/day of each sample juice at different percentages of 30% (30:70, whole juice: water); 60% (60:40, whole juice: water); 90% (90:10, whole juice: water); for 4weeks. Rats fed with normal diet and cholesterol-rich diets throughout the experiment were used as negative and test controls respectively. Assay of the lipid profile were determined in blood obtained from animals sacrificed at zero, 2weeks, 4weeks and 6weeks of the feeding study. There was a significant (P>0.05) increase in the weight of the hypercholesterlemic rats (after two weeks of feeding the test groups and test control with high-cholesterol diet) compared to the negative control. It was observed from the results obtained that all the solanum species used in this study at 30%, 60% and 90% significantly (P>0.05) reduced plasma total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, triglyceride and increased high density lipoprotein compared to the test control. Hence, these solanum juices at its various concentrations have hypolipidemic effect thus indicating the possible use of these solanum species (egg plant) in the treatment of diseases associated with hyperlipidemia such as ischaemic heart disease and arteriosclerosis.
