ONWURAH CHRISTIAN AND S. MAJUMDER
Abstract
Scenedesmus abundans was evaluated for its safety as a food supplement by toxicity evaluation studies in albino rats. Acute oral toxicity studies were conducted using Wistar albino rats. S. abundans powder at high concentrations 2000 mg/kg body weight (w/w) did not induce any symptoms of toxicity nor mortality of the animals. Feeding S. abundans for 14 days increased the body weight by 14.42% in test rats as compared to 6.96% in control rats. The necropsy was conducted on all the treated animals at the end of the experiment did not exhibits any gross pathological changes. Histological examination of vital organs did not show any notable differences between treated and control groups. Consumption of Scenedesmus abundans improved the body weight of experimental animals without any adverse effects and hence can be suggested as food supplement.