Comparative Phytochemical Characterization and Acute Toxicological Evaluation of Chrysophyllum albidum Fruit Pulp and Root Extract in Experimental Rodents

Chrysophyllum albidum is popularly eaten as a seasonal fruit and has been utilized for traditional medicine in some parts of West Africa. Comparative studies on the phytochemical profile, acute toxicity and body weight changes of the fruitpulp and root extract of the plant are limited. The phytochemical composition, acute oral toxicity and effect on body weight of fruit pulp and root extract of C. albidum was evaluated on experimental rodents. Fresh ripe fruits and roots of C. albidum were harvested, identified and extracted in crude extracts. Phytochemical screening was conducted to find the presence and estimation of Saponins, Tannins, Alkaloids, Flavonoids, Phenolic compounds, Cardiac glycosides and Terpenes were conducted in both qualitative and quantitative manner. Acute oral toxicity was determined by giving single oral doses of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000 and 5000 mg/kg to mice, with observation for 7 days for symptoms of toxicity and death. Wistar rats were treated orally with 400 and 800 mg/kg of the fruit pulp and root extract for 30 days, respectively, for 30 days, to assess the effect of the extract on body weight. Data are shown as means ± SEM and were considered statistically significant at the 0.05 level. Saponins, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides and terpenes were present in both the extracts. Flavanoids and highly detected were present in fruit pulp while alkaloids were higher in the root extract. Flavonoids in the fruit pulp were significantly more (14.50 ±0.01 mg/100 g) than in the root extract (13.86 ±0.07 mg/100 g); and alkaloid content was significantly higher in the root extract than in the fruit pulp (15.57 ±0.01 mg/100 g vs 11.07 ±0.35 mg/100 g). There was no mortality in the mice when oral dosage of the extract up to 5000 mg/kg was taken. The oral LD50 is more than 5000 mg/kg in mice. The body weight gain was not significantly different between the 400 mg/kg of both extracts and the control in this 30 day study, but the 800 mg/kg of both fruit pulp extract and root extract caused a significant decrease in body weight gain. C. albidum fruit pulp and root extract exhibited low acute oral toxicity and several bioactive phytochemicals under the experimental conditions. The marked decrease in body weight gain at 800 mg/kg did indicate that chronic exposure to higher doses might have measurable effects. The results of this study clearly demonstrated the nutritional and ethnomedicinal significance of C. albidum and highlighted the necessity of dosage precautions and additional subacute, chronic, biochemical and histopathological safety tests.