Safety assessment of essential oils from Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) fruit from Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: The essential oils of Xylopia aethiopica fruits have been reported to possess numerous biochemical effects. However, no toxicological data is available regarding the safety evaluation of the essential oils from the plant spice. The present study was performed to evaluate the safety of essential oils from X. aethiopica (XAEO) fruit by acute and sub-acute oral toxicity studies in experimental rodents.
 Methods: In assessing the safety of XAEO, acute and sub-acute oral toxicity tests were performed following OECD guidelines 425 and 407, respectively, with slight modifications. At the end of each test, hematological and biochemical analysis of the collected blood was performed. Histopathological examination of vital organs of the animals was conducted for gross findings and for comparison to controls.
 Results: In acute oral toxicity, signs of toxicity were observed in the initial period of the experiment which culminated in the death of the mice before the end of the experiment. The sub-acute test observations indicated that generally, there were no significant differences (p<0.05) up to the high dose level compared to the controls.
 Conclusion: This study demonstrated the tolerability of XAEO administered daily for 28 days up to 450 mg/kg dose.

Behavioural and biochemical indications of the antidepressant activities of essential oils from Monodora myristica (Gaertn) seed and Xylopia aethiopica (Dunal) fruit in rats

“…Following seven (7) days of acclimatization allowed for the rats to adapt to their new environment, the rats were randomly divided into equal 7 (seven) groups according to their body weight; rats in group I were unstressed and were not exposed to CUMS but administered 2 ml corn oil (vehicle used for diluting the essential oils); rats in group II was treated orally with 2 ml of corn oil; rats in group III to group VI were treated orally with corn oil and different doses of EOMM (150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg), EOXA (150 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg) all of which were diluted in 2 ml of corn oil. The doses were selected based on the previous studies of the acute and sub-acute toxicity studies on EOXA and EOMM ( Ekeanyanwu et al, 2020 , Bakarnga-Via et al, 2014 ). The doses selected were below the toxic dose.…”