Molecules 2010, 15(11), 8111-8121; doi:10.3390/molecules15118111
Article

Acute Oral Toxicity and Brine Shrimp Lethality of Elaeis guineensis Jacq., (Oil Palm Leaf) Methanol Extract

Abdul Rani Muhamad Syahmi 1 , Soundararajan Vijayarathna 2 , Sreenivasan Sasidharan 2,* email, Lachimanan Yoga Latha 2 email, Yuet Ping Kwan 2 , Yee Ling Lau 3 email, Lai Ngit Shin 2  and Yeng Chen 2 email
1 School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 2 Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine (INFORMM), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia 3 Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 2 September 2010; in revised form: 19 September 2010 / Accepted: 12 October 2010 / Published: 10 November 2010
(This article belongs to the Section Natural Products)
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Abstract: Elaeis guineensis (Arecaceae) is widely used in West African traditional medicine for treating various ailments. An evaluation on the toxicity of extracts of this plant is crucial to support the therapeutic claims. The acute oral toxicity and brine shrimp lethality of a methanolic extract of this plant was tested. Oral administration of crude extract at the highest dose of 5,000 mg/kg resulted in no mortalities or evidence of adverse effects, implying that E. guineensis is nontoxic. Normal behavioral pattern, clinical signs and histology of vital organs confirm this evidence. The E. guineensis extracts screened for toxicity against brine shrimp had 50% lethal concentration (LC50) values of more than 1.0 mg/mL (9.00 and 3.87 mg/mL, at 6 and 24 h, respectively), confirming that the extract was not toxic. Maximum mortalities occurred at 100 mg/mL concentration while the least mortalities happened to be at 0.195 mg/mL concentration. The results of both tests confirm that E. guineensis is nontoxic and hence safe for commercial utilization.
Keywords: Elaeis guineensis; methanol extract; acute oral toxicity; brine shrimp lethality assay

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Syahmi, A.R.M.; Vijayarathna, S.; Sasidharan, S.; Latha, L.Y.; Kwan, Y.P.; Lau, Y.L.; Shin, L.N.; Chen, Y. Acute Oral Toxicity and Brine Shrimp Lethality of Elaeis guineensis Jacq., (Oil Palm Leaf) Methanol Extract. Molecules 2010, 15, 8111-8121.

AMA Style

Syahmi ARM, Vijayarathna S, Sasidharan S, Latha LY, Kwan YP, Lau YL, Shin LN, Chen Y. Acute Oral Toxicity and Brine Shrimp Lethality of Elaeis guineensis Jacq., (Oil Palm Leaf) Methanol Extract. Molecules. 2010; 15(11):8111-8121.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Syahmi, Abdul Rani Muhamad; Vijayarathna, Soundararajan; Sasidharan, Sreenivasan; Latha, Lachimanan Yoga; Kwan, Yuet Ping; Lau, Yee Ling; Shin, Lai Ngit; Chen, Yeng. 2010. "Acute Oral Toxicity and Brine Shrimp Lethality of Elaeis guineensis Jacq., (Oil Palm Leaf) Methanol Extract." Molecules 15, no. 11: 8111-8121.

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