Evaluation of acute oral toxicity, hemato-biochemical activity and physiological responses of rabbits and rats administered Moringa oleifera leaf extract and meal

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate acute oral toxicity of leaf extract of Moringa oleifera and determine the effect of the leaf’s meals of this plant on hematological and biochemical parameters of the rabbit. Ten rats weighing 150 ± 200 g were used for the oral acute toxicity study. Five rats received orally a single dose of 2000 mg/kg of weight of aqueous extract and 5 rats used as control. Forty-eight New Zealand rabbits, weighing 968±100 g were randomly spread into 4 treatments groups containing 12 growing rabbits each. Rabbits are fed rations T0, T1, T2 and T3 containing respectively 0, 5, 10 and 15% of the leaf powder M. oleifera for 56 days. The results show that M. oleifera is not toxic at 2000 mg/kg. The results of the biochemical and hematological parameters obtained in the rabbits do not show any significant difference (p > 0.05) between the treatments. These results suggest that feeding M. oleifera up to 15% inclusion in rabbit diet will not have a deleterious effect on the health of rabbits. However, histological studies of the liver and kidney would be necessary to confirm the innocuousness of the plant.   Key words: Moringa oleifera, rats, rabbits, oral toxicity, hematological-biochemical parameters.