ACUTE ORAL TOXICITY OF ESSENTIAL OILS OF CymbopogoncitratusStapf. IN MICE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the acute oral toxicity profile of the essential oils of lemon grass that is used as a natural food and medicinal flavor.The oil was obtained by steam distillation of 4.6 kg of fresh lemon grass leaves using a Clevenger apparatus, dried using anhydrous sodium sulphate and its netweight taken and this was found to be 14.2 g (0.31% as yield).A stock solution of 200 g/ml was made by dissolving 4 ml of the essential oil in 20ml of DMSO. A total of 36 (18 male and 18 Female) health mice were selected for the toxicity studies. Five different doses (4000 mg, 2000 mg, 1500 mg, 1000 mg, and 500 mg)/kg BW were administered tothe grouped animals randomly in the preliminary phase of the study.