Subacute oral toxicity of cocoa tea (Camellia ptilophylla) water extract in SD rats

Abstract

Camellia ptilophylla, known as cocoa tea, is a natural decaffeinated tea plant which has been proved with potential bioactivities. This study was carried out to evaluate the safety of green cocoa tea water extract (CWE) by determining its potential toxicity after subacute administration in SD rats. In the subacute toxicity study, oral administration of CWE up to 800 mg kg À1 body weight day À1 for twenty-eight consecutive days did not cause either mortality or toxicity in SD rats, regardless of gender. There were no adverse effects in body weight, food consumption, relative organ weight, haematological parameters, clinical chemistry, gross pathology and histopathology between treatment and control groups. Several parameters (e.g. neutrophils%, Ca 2+ , total Ca) in CWE-treated rats with high dosage were significantly different from the control groups, but still in a safety level. A dose of 800 mg kg À1 day À1 was identified as the no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) in this study.