Acute, subacute and subchronic safety assessment of betalains rich Rivina humilis L. berry juice in rats

Rivina humilis L. (Phytolaccaceae) accumulates vacuolar pigments betalains. These pigments are synthesized by plants of 11 families in the order caryophyllales. Red beet is the only industrial source of these hydrophilic and low acidic pigments. Betalains rich R. humilis berry juice (RBJ) could be used as alternative source of these pigments. However, there is no information on safety of these berries. In this research work, RBJ was fed to adult (single-dose: 1, 2 and 5 g RBJ/kg bw) and growing (repeated-dosing: 2.5 and 5 g RBJ/kg bw for 35 days; dietary feeding: 0.5%, 1% and 2% RBJ in diet, w/w for 90 days) male rats to assess acute, subacute and subchronic toxic responses. In all the three studies, RBJ was well tolerated plus the feed intake, body and organ weights of RBJ administered groups were comparable to that of untreated control rats. Data on hematology, histology of vital organs, biochemical measurements in serum and liver of RBJ treated rats were comparable to that of control in repeated-dosing and subchronic dietary study. These results suggest that intake of RBJ does not affect growth and normal biochemical homeostasis. Hence, RBJ is safe to consume without any adverse effects in the body.