TOXICITY ASSESSMENT OF MUCUNA PRURIENS LINN. SEEDS

Abstract

Plants have been used as medicine for the treatment of diseases for thousands of years. These herbal remedies, although natural, can cause some serious damaging effects on the vital organs of the body due to inadequacy in standardization and safety regulations. Mucuna pruriens Linn. belongs to family Fabaceae and is used traditionally in various ailments. The present study reports the acute systematic toxicity and topical toxicity of methanolic extract of Mucuna pruriens (seeds) on albino mice and rabbits respectively. Test solution was injected intravenously into the tail as 1ml/20gm of the mice body weight. Observation was made immediately and after 1/2, 1, 4, 24, 48 and 72hours of drug administration. Mice showed normal activity till 72hours. The intracutaneous test is designed to evaluate local responses to the extracts of materials under test following intracutaneous injection into rabbits. The toxicological investigations of Mucuna pruriens with particular reference to intracutaneous toxicity in experimental animals displayed that it showed slight edema.