ASGANDH NAGORI (WITHANIA SOMNIFERA) AS MUQAWWI-E-BAH: A CORRELATIVE REVIEW OF UNANI APHRODISIAC CONCEPTS AND MODERN EVIDENCE ON MALE REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES AND FERTILITY

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, known in Unani medicine as Asgandh or Asgandh Nagori, has been classified by classical Unani physicians as Muqawwi-e-Bah (aphrodisiac), Moallid-e-Mani (semen-producer), and Muqawwi-e-Aza-e-Raeesa (tonic for vital organs) for over a millennium. Contemporary pharmacological and clinical research has independently converged on many of the same domains, demonstrating measurable effects of standardized root extracts on serum testosterone, spermatogenesis, and semen parameters in men. This review correlates the classical Unani rationale for the use of Asgandh Nagori in male sexual and reproductive debility with modern evidence drawn from randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and mechanistic studies published between 2013 and 2026. Particular attention is given to the Unani concept of Mizaj (hot-dry temperament) as a qualitative precursor to the herb's now well-documented steroidogenic and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis- modulating activity, mediated primarily by withanolides, the steroidal lactones that constitute the root's principal bioactive phytochemical class. The review also addresses emerging safety concerns raised by European regulatory bodies, situating them alongside classical Unani cautions on dose and preparation. The Unani aphrodisiac framework for Asgandh, though pre-scientific in its vocabulary, anticipated several mechanisms subsequently validated by modern reproductive endocrinology, and further hypothesis-driven research bridging the two systems is warranted.