The aqueous suspensions of roots of an Indian drug Ashwagandha and the
Korean drug Ginseng were tested comparatively for 2 pharmacological a
ctivities, namely the anti-stress activity by the 'mice swimming endur
ance test' and anabolic activity by noting gain in body weights and le
vator ani muscle in rats. A significant increase in mice swimming time
was shown by Ginseng (P < 0.001) and Ashwagandha (P < 0.01) as compar
ed to the control group. Significant increase in body weights in the A
shwagandha treated group (P < 0.05) was better than Ginseng (P < 0.5).
Gain in wet weights of the levator ani muscle were also significant i
n Ginseng (P < 0.001) and Ashwagandha (P < 0.01) treated groups, howev
er, the weight gain of dried levator ani muscles showed comparable res
ults for both these drugs (P < 0.01).