Acute Toxicity (LD50) of Petroleum Ether, Ethanolic and Aqueous Stem Bark Extracts of Adansonia digitata on Albino Wister Rat

Adansonia digitata Linn. Commonly known as “Baobab” is a deciduous tree and belongs to the plant family called Bombacacea. The tree is mostly known for its exceptional height and may live for several hundred years. The bark tends to be smooth, ranging in colour from reddish brown to grey, being rough and wrinkly like elephant skin. Acute toxicity of petroleum ether, ethanolic and aqueous extract of stem bark of Adansonia digitata was carried out using albino Wister rat as animal models. This study was conducted to determine the acute toxicity level of the crude extracts using Albino Wister rats. The study was conducted in two phases. In phase I, three groups of three rats (3 per group) with weight range of 100 – 120g were administered with respective oral doses of 10 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg body weight of each extract. While the control groups were administered normal saline. These were observed 24 hrs and up to a period of 2 weeks. In second phase II, the dosage of each extract was increased to 1600 mg, 2900 mg and 5000 mg/kg body weight respectively for another three groups of one rat (1 per group). The control groups were administered normal saline. These were equally observed for toxicity signs namely salivation, brushing of the nose on the floor, isolation, weakness, sleeping, coma and possible deaths. The result shows that throughout the 2 weeks period, no mortality was observed in any of the test animal groups up to the highest dose of the extract tested. It is therefore concluded that administration of Adansonia digitata stem bark extract in rat may be safe up to a dose of 5000 mg/kg body weight. This may serve as a baseline data value for the development of ethnopharmacologically active substances with potential to be used as modern medicine.