Subchronic safety evaluation of hot-water extract from thinned immature mangos (Mangifera indica ‘Irwin’): 90-days oral toxicity study in rats

Thinned immature fruit of the mango tree (Mangifera indica ‘Irwin’) are handled as waste. In this study, we conducted a 90-days toxicity study in male and female Sprague Dawley rats to evaluate the safety of a hot-water extract of thinned immature mango fruits (TIMEx) administered by oral gavage at doses of 500, 1000 and 2500 mg/kg body weight/day. Treatment did not result in death or changes in the behavior or external appearance of the animals. No alterations were observed in hematological or serum chemical parameters, urinalysis, food consumption, body weight gain or organ weights at the end of the treatment period, with the exception of higher mean corpuscular volume in male rats that received high doses and lower serum creatine phosphokinase levels in female rats that received medium doses. Under the conditions of this study and based on the toxicological endpoints evaluated, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for TIMEx was 2500 mg/kg/day. The findings indicate that TIMEx is safe for consumption and should be investigated as a candidate food.