LONDON (Reuters) – A Chinese herbal medicine known as “horny goat weed” is a potent substitute of Viagra for impotent men, Italian researchers said.

The herb has established its repute as a natural aphrodisiac. The research, which did not observe whether the herb truly increases desire, could lead to new drugs to help men get erections, said Mario Dell’Agli, who led the study.

“This could be the natural Viagra. The novelty is that we have synthesized a new molecule that one day may be able to replace Viagra.”

Erectile dysfunction is prevailing worldwide, and drugs like Viagra, Levitra or vardenafil, work by enhancing blood flow to the genitals. But the drugs, which inhibit an enzyme called phosphodiesterase type 5, which restricts blood flow around the body, including penis, can have side effects such as headache, gastro-intestinal irritations and visual disability including blindness.

The Italian team looked for several plants and herbs reputed to reboot sexual performance. After founding horny goat weed, the researchers rectify a compound in the plant called “icariin” and found, it blocked the erection-inhibiting enzyme.

As the compound specifically blocks the enzyme, it may have fewer side effects than Viagra, known commonly as sildenafil, Dell’Agli said.

“The compound icariin is present in the horny goat weed in large amounts and its activity against (the enzyme) is lower compared to Viagra,” he said. “But the new molecule we synthesized from icariin is as good as Viagra against (the enzyme).”

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