Histological Study of Fennel'’s (Foeniculum Vulgare) Effect on Female Rats’ Mammary Glands

Many of the herbs and plants, during the past centuries, were described as milk producing. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) was one of these herbs in which the medical prescriptions were mentioned by herbal medicine practitioners in various parts of the world. The reason of this study is to shed the lights of the fennel’s effect on female rats’ mammary glands in the three physiological cases (virgins, pregnant and lactating). Ninety Norwegian white rats (Sprague-Dawley) were used and divided into four groups treated by fennel plant focusing 5% and 10% of the daily food for a period of 10 and 20 days,
two sets of control for each focus for a period of 10 and 20 days, and have took its allocated animal feed and each group includes five animals. Then histological section methods were used with the use of Haematoxylin and eosin stains. It was found there was an increase in the number of alveoli and a slight expansion in the cavities of the alveoli’s mammary glands for the virgin and pregnant rats and expansion in the cavities of the alveoli’s mammary glands for the lactating rats and a slight increase in the secretory substances for the pregnant and lactating. This means that the seed has given an incentive to increase the growth and the development of the mammary gland in virgin animals as well as the ability of the seed to increase the composition of milk in the duration of the pregnancy and increase the secretion of milk in lactating animals. All these effects were the greatest, biggest and most in all physiological cases in the case of concentration of (10%) for 20 days with the emergence of hyperplasia state.
This gives an indication that the seed of fennel plant has worked to increase the chance of growth and development of the mammary glands of the female rats.