CHEWING EFFICACY OF FENNEL SEEDS ON SALIVARY pH IN CHILDREN – AN In vivo STUDY | PLANT CELL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Introduction: In different cultures, chewing of herbal seeds/leaves has been widely followed. One such tradition is the chewing of fennel seeds (Foeniculum vulgare). This is known to affect the salivary flow and its buffering ability, thereby offering susceptible individuals caries defense.

Objective: The aim of the study is to assess and compare salivary pH in children at baseline, immediately and five minutes after seed chewing. Materials and Methods: A total of 25 subjects aged 12-15 years were divided into three groups based on DMFT scores and were asked to chew 1.3 gm of fennel seeds for five minutes, and salivary pH was reported at three pH meteorological intervals.

Results: In all categories of the DMFT score, an increase in salivary pH was observed immediately after chewing and 5 minutes after chewing the fennel seeds. It has been found that this is statistically important (<0.005).

Conclusion: Fennel seed chewing has shown an improvement in salivary pH that can avoid demineralization and encourage anti-carcinogenic effects.

Please see the link :- https://www.ikprress.org/index.php/PCBMB/article/view/5521