ACUTE AND 28-DAY REPEATED DOSE TOXICITY OF AVERRHOA CARAMBOLA LEAVES ETHANOLIC EXTRACT IN RODENTS

Averrhoa carambola -L. (Oxalidaceae) has great importance in the Indian traditional system of medicine for controlling diabetes and piles: the combined extracts of leaves as well as fruits of A. carambola are used for the treatment of jaundice, gastric problems and other chronic conditions as well as in food supplements. The objective underlying this experiment is to determine the safety profile of the plant used on a daily basis as well as for prolonged exposure to subjects. In this study, we analyzed the influence of ethanol extract of Averrhoa carambola at a dose level of 2000 mg kg(-1) bw on the acute and with a graded dose levels from 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg kg(-1) bw for 28-day repeated-dose toxicity test in Wistar rats. The analysis revealed that the repeated oral dose of Averrhoa carambola L. at a dose level upto 2000 mg kg(-1) bw for 28 days did not induce any biochemical, hematological, morphological, histopathological signs of toxicity. High dose of Averrhoa carambola L. extract did not inhibit the body weight gain, while the food consumption decreased slightly for the nutritional effects of it in both male and female Wistar rats. In the histopathological findings, no toxic signs were observed on any of the tissues and organs examined and thus determining its safety profile on prolonged exposure.