Curcuma longa L. is a rhizome plant often used as traditional medicinal preparations in Southeast Asia. The dried powder is\ncommonly known as cure-all herbal medicine with a wider spectrum of pharmaceutical activities. In spite of the widely reported\ntherapeutic applications of C. longa, research on its safety and teratogenic effects on zebrafish embryos and larvae is still limited.\nHence, this research aimed to assess the toxicity of C. longa extract on zebrafish. Using a reflux flask, methanol extract of C. longa\nwas extracted and the identification and quantification of total flavonoids were carried out with HPLC. Twelve fertilized embryos\nwere selected to test the embryotoxicity and teratogenicity at different concentration points. The embryos were exposed to the\nextract in the E3Mmedium while the control was only exposed to E3Mand different developmental endpoints were recorded with\nthe therapeutic index calculated using the ratio of LC50/EC50. C. longa extract was detected to be highly rich in flavonoids with\ncatechin, epicatechin, and naringenin as the 3most abundantwith concentrations of 3,531.34, 688.70, and 523.83micro g/mL, respectively.\nThe toxicity effects were discovered to be dose-dependent at dosage above 62.50micro g/mL, while, at 125.0micro g/mL, mortality of embryos\nwas observed and physical body deformities of larvae were recorded among the hatched embryos at higher concentrations.\nTeratogenic effect of the extract was severe at higher concentrations producing physical body deformities such as kink tail, bend\ntrunk, and enlarged yolk sac edema. Finally, the therapeutic index (TI) values calculated were approximately the same for different\nconcentration points tested. Overall, the result revealed that plants having therapeutic potential could also pose threats when\nconsumed at higher doses especially on the embryos. Therefore, detailed toxicity analysis should be carried out onmedicinal plants\nto ascertain their safety on the embryos and its development.
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