title: Toxicology and safety of anti-oxidant of bamboo leaves. Part 1: Acute and subchronic toxicity studies on anti-oxidant of bamboo leaves.
abstract: The anti-oxidant of bamboo leaves (AOB) has recently been certificated as a novel kind of natural anti-oxidant by the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China, and has been used in various food systems. Here, AOB was subjected to a series of acute and subchronic toxicological tests to evaluate its safety. It was examined to evaluate acute oral toxicity by using Kun-Ming mice and Sprague-Dawley rats, and its mutagenic potential assessed by reverse mutation test using Salmonella typhimurium, bone marrow cell micronucleus test using Kun-Ming mice, and sperm abnormality test using Kun-Ming mice. In addition, a 90-day oral toxicity study using Sprague-Dawley rats was conducted to evaluate subchronic toxicology. The results showed that the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of AOB was >10 g/kg body weight in both rats and in mice, which can be regarded as virtually non-toxic. No mutagenicity evidence was detected in any of the three mutagenic tests. Administration at levels of 1.43, 2.87 and 4.30 g/kg per day to the rats for 90 days did not induce significant hematological, clinic, chemical and histopathological changes, and suggested a no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) of 4.30 g/kg per day. These results indicate that AOB can be generally regarded as safe for use as a food additive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310029, Zhejiang Province, PR China.
authors.forename: Baiyi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xiaoqin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tie
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000633:toxicity*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D005503:Food Additives / Q000633:toxicity*; D008297:Male; D020714:Maximum Tolerated Dose; D051379:Mice; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D019055:No-Observed-Adverse-Effect Level; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000633:toxicity*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012449:Safety; D031787:Sasa / Q000737:chemistry*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000187:drug effects; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D036401:Toxicity Tests, Chronic
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D005503:Food Additives