No abstract

<p>The present study was conducted to evaluate the antioxidant capacity and acute toxicity of the methanol extract of two <em>Lagenaria siceraria</em> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ignacio_Molina">Molina</a>) <a title="Paul Carpenter Standley" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Carpenter_Standley">Standl.</a> varieties of dried seeds, Sweet gourd Water Jug (WJ) and bitter gourd Basket Ball (BB). The seed extracts were tested for their total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and scavenging activity to the stable free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Both dried seed extracts were then tested for acute toxicity at doses 2 and 5 g kg^-1 each. Sixty female and male rats were assigned into five groups per sex. Four groups were given low and high doses of each dried  seed extract and the fifth group was given 10 % Tween 20 as a control. Kidneys and livers of all rats were assessed for biochemistry and histopathology. The seed extract of WJ revealed higher TPC, FRAP and DPPH activities compared to BB seeds, while TFC results were reversed. Toxicologically, no toxicity signs were recorded in animals. Biochemistry results were within the normal ranges with a slight increase in bilirubin and Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and histology of kidneys and livers showed normal architecture. In conclusion, WJ and BB dried seed extracts exhibited high antioxidant activity suggesting promising therapeutic regimen against oxidative stress.</p>