OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of smoking of dried leaves of Carica papaya (pawpaw) based on ethnopharmacological information which indicated that smoking of papaya leaves could influence motor performance and learning.

METHODSTwenty-four rats were used for the study, and were grouped into four groups. Groups 1 served as the control (not exposed to papaya leaves smoke), while Groups 2, 3 and 4 were exposed to smoke from 6.25 g, 12.50 g and 18.75 g of dry pawpaw leaves respectively in a smoking chamber twice daily for 21 d with each exposure lasting for 3 min. Lastly, hippocampus was harvested in each group for histological study.

RESULTSThe results showed that there were significant (P<0.05) increases in mean of recall latencies of long-term spatial memory in the animal administered the high dose while the other groups had significantly (P<0.05) lower frequencies. Histological investigation showed signs of mild neural degeneration in high dose group and hypochromic appearance of the Nissl substance in all treated groups.

CONCLUSIONSIn conclusion, the findings from this study has demonstrated that smoking of papaya leaves has the ability to maintain an intact long-term spatial memory at all doses but retrieving such memory is faster with the low and medium dosages.