Investigating the toxicity of the leaf extracts of lotus

Abstract

Lotus croniculatus belongs to Fabaceae family and grows in the temperate regions and grasslands of the countries of Africa and America. The plant is commonly known as common bird’s foot tree foil. The plant is a herb and appears to be clover plant. The flowers of the plant are used mainly to induce sleep and other effects that regard to brain and heart. The plant is used to reduce spasms in the digestive tract. The infusions that are diluted to certain extent are helpful to reduce the anxiety and insomnia and also to treat exhaustion. Inspite of the possession of lot of pharmacological activities, the plant is to be studied in a detailed manner for the toxicity also. Medicinal plants are known to cause low adverse effects and high potency. In the present investigation, the acute and chronic toxicity levels of the plant Lotus croniculatus extract of leaves was studied in laboratory animals. It is indicated that the animals did not show any change in behavior in acute toxicity and no mortality too. The extract also showed no signs of toxicity and change of values in the blood cells, liver enzymes and also kidney function tests were also normal at the dose of 2g/kg which denotes the safety of the plant in rats.

Alkaloids from lotus (Nelumbo nucifera): recent advances in biosynthesis, pharmacokinetics, bioactivity, safety, and industrial applications

“…According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, daily dose of lotus leaf intake for an adult is 3~10g (total raw material), containing about 17.9~76.1 mg nuciferine (Wang et al 2015). A lotus leaf extract at a dose of 2 g/kg caused no signs of toxicity or changes in blood cells, liver enzymes or kidney function, indicating the safety of the plant in rats (Deepa et al 2021). Moreover, the acute toxicity (LD 50) of the lotus rhizome methanolic extract (166 mg/g alkaloids) was determined to be more than 5,000 mg/kg and is declared safe for use (Murtala et al 2019).…”