Acute and sub-acute toxicity of the crude extracts of the aerial parts of Daucus carota L. in laboratory rats

Background: Daucus carota L. belongs to the family Apiaceae and it is commonly known as carrot. The aerial part is used in some Northern parts of Nigeria as a livestock feed without scientific evidence of its safety to animal and man.Aim: The study assessed the safety margins of the D. carota aerial parts.Setting: The aerial part of D. carota were sourced from cultivated farmland at the outskirts of Samaru, Sabon Gari Local Government Area of Kaduna State and authenticated at Herbarium Unit of the Department of Botany, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. The aerial parts were air-dried under shade, pulverised and stored properly for analysis.Methods: According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) method, the acute and sub-acute toxicity studies were carried on the crude extracts of the aerial parts to evaluate the safety of the healthy Wistar rats.Results: The findings from the oral acute toxicity study showed that there was no sign of toxicity and mortality at 5000 mg/kg in the n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts. The sub-acute toxicity graded doses of 500 mg/kg, 1000 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg of these extracts revealed a significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) on body weight, haematological parameters, liver and kidney function parameters. The histopathological effects of the extracts revealed different morphological alterations in the liver and kidney when compared with the control group.Conclusion: The study concluded that the aerial parts of D. carota might not be safe for livestock and its consumption could be capable of causing liver, kidney, tissue injury and other related diseases to animal and man.