Acute and Sub-acute Toxicity Studies of Ethanol and Chloroform Extracts of Solanum giganteum Jacq. Leaves

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an indication of the increasing popularity of complementary and alternative medicine approaches to health in India. Even with rapid growth, there is inadequate evidence about the efficiency and toxicity of alternative medicine. Much more needs to be done to increase the evidence base for herbals, botanicals, and dietary supplements. Since ancient times, plants have been a basic source of drugs, but scientific medicine tends to no attention to the importance of herbal medicine. 1 Approximately any substance can be harmful at a few doses but, at the same time, can be without harmful effects at some lower dose. Between these two limits, there is a variety of possible effects, from delicate long-term chronic toxicity to instant lethality. The large range of toxic chemicals formed by plants (phytotoxins), commonly referred to as secondary plant compounds, is often held to have developed as defence mechanisms against animals, mainly insects and mammals. Many toxic chemicals are constituents of plants that form part of the human diet. 2 The many varieties in the plant of the genus Solanaceae. There may be up to around 1,500 species worldwide. With a few 800 conventional specific and infraspecific taxa of the more than 4,000 described, the genus Solanum contains more species than any other genus in the Solanaceae family and it is one of the majors between the angiosperms. Solanum giganteum (Family: Solanaceae) Much-branched shrub or small tree up to 6 m high. Branchlets with white, woolly hairs and stout, straight prickles up to 5 mm long. Leaves elliptic, margin entire, large, up to 250 x 90 mm, softly textured, dark green, glabrescent. Flowers in many-flowered, branched, dense, terminal corymbs faintly scented; corolla white, mauve to blue or purple, 15 mm in diameter, anthers yellow. Distributed in almost all parts of the world and abundantly found in Tropical Africa, India (Maharashtra; Gujarat; Punjab and Rajasthan). In India, it is widely distributed. Traditionally it is used treat as an antiinflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and much more. [3][4][5][6][7][8] Hence, in the existing work, Acute and subacute oral toxicity estimation of ethanol and chloroform extracts of Solanum giganteum Jacq leave. No clinical proof or studies for the oral acute and sub-acute oral toxicity investigation for this plant are available in the literature. Therefore, acute and sub-acute oral toxicity studies were carried out by the OECD guidelines to verify and set up the safety for its use in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to estimate the safety of Solanum giganteum in animals' models. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant materialThe plant Solanum giganteum Jacq was collected in November 2020, from the area of Satara Maharashtra, India, the specimen was authenticated by comparing it with the voucher specimen deposited in the