The Journal of Phytopharmacology, 2022;11(4):281-285 DOI:10.31254/phyto.2022.11410
Evaluation of acute oral toxicity of lemon grass oil and citral in albino rats
Adheena Xavier1 , S Suja Rani2 , R Shankar3 , AR Nisha4 , S Sujith2 , R Uma5
1. M.V.Sc. scholar, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur680651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur– 680651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
3. M.V.Sc. scholar, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur– 680651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
4. Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur– 680651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
5. Associate Professor, Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy, Thrissur–680651, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 13th May, 2022 / Accepted: 9th June, 2022
Essential oils, which are the plant derived secondary metabolites have been reported for varioustraditional medicinal applications. Amongst them, lemongrass oil (LGO) derived from Cymbopogon spp.as well as its major constituent citral possess a myriad of therapeutic potentials. The present study hasbeen undertaken to study the adverse effects of LGO and citral on acute oral exposure to SpragueDawley rats to establish the preliminary safety of these compounds prior to their efficacy evaluationagainst fatty liver disease. The toxicity study was conducted as per OECD guidelines No. 420. The LGOand citral were solubilized in 1% tween 80 and administered orally in a sequential manner in one animalat 2000 mg/kg (sighting study) followed by four animals (main study). The animals were then monitoredfor any clinical abnormalities or mortality and body weight gain during the observational period of 14-days, after which the animals were sacrificed and examined for abnormal lesions. LGO was furthersubjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis to characterize its chemicalconstituents, which revealed alpha and beta citral as the two major constituents. The rats treated withLGO and citral survived throughout the study period and didn’t exhibit any clinical abnormalities.Moreover, body weight gain was comparable to the vehicle treated rats and necropsy revealed nopathological alterations. Thus, the present study indicated LGO and citral as safe compounds with anLD50 greater than 2000 mg/kg and could be labelled as category 5/unclassified in hazard category ofGlobally harmonized system for classification of chemicals.
Lemongrass Oil, Citral, Sprague Dawley Rats, Tween 80, Acute Oral Toxicity, OECD 420, GC-MS Analysis
HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE
Xavier A, Rani SS, Shankar R, Nisha AR, Sujith S, Uma R. Evaluation of acute oraltoxicity of lemon grass oil and citral in albino rats. J Phytopharmacol 2022;11(4):281-285. doi: 10.31254/phyto.2022.11410
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