Subchronic toxicological evaluation of brea gum (Parkinsonia preacox) as a food additive in BALB/c mice

Abstract

Brea gum is a phloematic exudate from Parkinsonia praecox, an autoctonous tree that grows in the arid areas of Argentina. In this work, we propose its potentiality as a food additive. However, as no toxicological safety evaluation of brea gum has yet been reported, this preliminary study was conducted to evaluate its long term toxicity over a 120 day period in BALB/c mice fed with brea gum at various levels in the diet. The results showed that animals on diets containing up to 5% brea gum were healthy exhibiting growth curves similar to controls for both males (p=0.9138) and females (p=0.9459), thereby indicating that feed intake and utilization was not affected. A histopathological examination and weight recording of liver, kidneys and intestine did not reveal any microscopic abnormalities or adverse toxicological effect (weights respect to control p>0.1). Moreover, haematological parameters and enzyme activities were within the normal values previously reported for mice. Our findings suggest that feeding brea gum at levels up to 5% by BALB/c mice do not exert any toxicological effects, pointing out as a potential useful food additive for human consumption.