Yaji, otherwise 'suya sauce', used in serving the meat delicacy called 'Suya', is a complex mixture of spices and additives whose active ingredients on individual basis, are known to have side effects if consumed in excess. The growing concern is that the excessive consumption of Yaji signifies an excessive consumption of a combination of these constituents amongst which are ginger, cloves, red pepper and black pepper; which are mixed without a standardized format. This study was therefore designed to correlate the individual with the combined effects of the excessive consumption of these spices on the histology of the liver of adult rabbits. Involved in this study were 12 rabbits that were divided into six groups of two (2) each (A, B, C, D, E and F). Those in groups B, C, D, E and F, constituted the test groups whereas group A served as the control. For 21 days, test group B were fed with a combination of Ginger (3g), Clove (3g), red Pepper (3g) and Black Pepper (3g) per day while test groups C, D, E and F were fed with ginger (3g), Clove (3g), Red pepper (3g) and Black Pepper (3g) per day respectively. The histological observations show that the excessive consumption of these spices can cause necrosis of liver hepatocytes and therefore acute hepatitis. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2007.
