Investigation of the toxicity of aqueous and methanol extracts of Dacryodes edulis seed on Wistar rats

The aim of this study is to investigate the toxicity of aqueous and methanol extracts of Dacryodes edulis seed on Wistar Rats. The seed of Dacryodes edulis were locally sourced from a farmer in Olobo area of Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria and were identified by a botanist. Forty-five Wistar rats were divided into 9 groups of 5 rats each. Group A served as control, Groups B, C, D and E were administered 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg of aqueous extract of D. edulis seed respectively while groups  F, G, H and I were administered 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/kg bw of methanol extract of D. edulis seed respectively via oral route for 28 days. The result of the acute toxicity of Dacryodes edulis seed showed that the LD50 of its aqueous and methanolic extract is greater than 5000 mg/kg as no mortality was recorded at this dose except for a decline in the normal activity of the animals administered 5000 mg/kg dose. Administration of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg of aqueous and methanol extracts of D. edulis seed was observed to have no significant effect on the parameters determined when compared with those in the control animals. However, administration of 2000 mg/kg of aqueous and methanol extracts of D. edulis seed significantly (p<0.05) perturbed hepatic, protein, renal, lipid profile and oxidative stress biomarkers when respectively compared with those in control animals. The result of this study showed that both aqueous and methanol extracts of D. edulis seed are not toxic at a dose of 1000 mg/kg and below. However, a dose of 2000 mg/kg elicited toxic effects on the measured parameters. Thus, its consumption at high dose should be discouraged.