Acute Oral Toxicity Test of Selected Philippine Indigenous Berries as Potential Food Supplements

Abstract

Objectives “Bignay” (Antidesma bunius), “lipote” (Syzygium polycephaloides) and “duhat” (Syzgium cumini) are indigenous berries in the Philippines that are known to contain high antioxidant properties and other health-promoting and disease-preventing compounds. However, oral toxicity studies on these berries are not yet explored. Hence, this study evaluated the acute oral toxicity of these berries in freeze-dried forms using 6-week old ICR mice following the OECD guidelines 425 (up and down method). Methods Treatment groups were administered with freeze-dried powders of “bignay”, “lipote” and “duhat” reconstituted in distilled water at various doses: 55 mg/kg body weight (BW), 175 mg/kg BW, 550 mg/kg BW, 2000 mg/kg BW and 5000 mg/kg BW while control group was administered with distilled water. Body weight, feed and water intake were obtained daily. Biochemical profiles were measured prior to administration of reconstituted berries at day 1 and prior to euthanasia. Toxicity, morbidity and mortality cases were observed daily. Euthanasia and necropsy were performed to check for gross organ abnormalities. Results Mice that received the different concentrations of “bignay”, “lipote” and “duhat” had normal feed and water consumption and gained weight during the test period. No clinical and behavioral signs of toxicity were observed and there was zero morbidity and mortality. Post-mortem evaluation showed no lesions on various organs examined. Blood ALT, BUN and creatinine levels were within normal published values. Conclusions These results show that different concentrations of freeze-dried “bignay”, “lipote” and “duhat” are non-toxic using ICR mice and therefore have high potential to be developed into food supplements and nutraceuticals. Funding Sources Philippine Council for Health Research and Development - Department of Food Science and Technology Enhanced Creative Work and Research Grant - Office of Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, University of the Philippines.

Subacute Oral Toxicity Evaluation of Freeze-Dried Fruits of Lipote (Syzygium polycephaloides (C.B. Rob.) Merr.) in ICR Mice

“…On the other hand, mice of the same sex did not differ significantly between groups. These results indicate that the reconstituted freeze-dried lipote powder did not induce any adverse effect on body weight and concur with the results of related oral toxicity studies on lipote [17] and other Syzygium species. [18]…”

“…This is consistent with the findings of a study conducted by Estacio and colleagues (2020) on acute toxicity of lipote. [17]…”