Carissa carandas L. and Its Methanol Extracts Promote Hematopoiesis and Thrombocytopoiesis: A Sub-Acute Toxicological Study in Experimental Rats.

Carissa carandas-a member of the family Apocynaceae, has gained tremendous attention from the scientific community for its impressive nutritional and health-promoting features. There is little information available on the toxicological risks associated with consuming the fruit; therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the toxicity of the commercially viable doses of the fruit and its extracts in an experimental rat model. A 28-day sub-acute feeding trial was performed on male albino rats using 5%-10% supplementation of C. carandas dehydrated powder and methanol fruit extracts. Our results demonstrated a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in hemoglobin and hematocrit concentration, from 11 to 14 g/dL and 35%-46%, respectively. Hematological results further confirmed improved hematopoiesis and thrombocytopoiesis due to dispensing C. carandas and its methanol extract, anticipating a significant increase in platelet counts from 627 to 1090 × 103/μL. The study's hepatic and renal histopathological findings also demonstrated no visible degenerative or inflammatory risks on sub-acute administered doses of fruit powder and extracts. The results indicate that lower doses of C. carandas powder and extracts, that is, < 10% dietary supplementation, do not elicit any detrimental or toxicological effect in the rats, suggesting C carandas to be a valuable and promising candidate for developing value-added functional foods to alleviate the risks of nutritional and other adverse health conditions.