Pharmacophore an International Research Journal
Introduction: In the Philippines, spices such as Cinnamomum mindanaense (CM), Illicium verum (IV), and Ocimum spp. (OS) are used for culinary purposes and in traditional herbal medicine practice. These spices have claimed health benefits, but toxicity evaluation of their bioactive constituents have not been thoroughly explored. This study aimed to evaluate the toxicity and teratogenicity of these selected indigenous spices. Materials and Methods: The toxicity of these spices was evaluated using Brine Shrimp Lethality Assay (BSLA, LC50) and Zebrafish Assay (hatchability, morphological abnormalities, and mortality) under a Complete Randomized Design. Results and Discussion: The results in BSLA revealed that the LC50 of CM leaf extract (6.961 μg/ml), IV leaf extract (10.434 μg/ml) and OS leaf extract (15.737 μg/ml) were considered highly toxic, following a linear dose-response trend. Evidence revealed that there was a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) in the toxicity and teratogenicity of the selected indigenous spices against zebrafish embryo/larvae as evidenced by less hatchability, morphological abnormalities, and high mortality. The LC50 value of CM leaf extract (230.497 μg/ml) and IV leaf extract (278.328 μg/ml) registered medium toxicity. Conclusion: This study provided additional evidence on the suspected toxicities of some indigenous spices when consumed at higher concentrations. Additional studies using other animal models and chronic testing through longitudinal time consideration are needed to further elucidate the consistency of its effect across different vertebrate models.
