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ABSTRACT
Moringa oleifera has long history of ethnomedicinal values and the use of plants as medicine is on the increase because they are safe and cheap sources of drugs for treating diseases. Although, herbal medicine are considered to be safe, however administration outside tolerable limits could be harmful. This study was designed to investigate the sub-acute toxicity of ethanol root extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. on haematological parameters in Wistar rats. Fresh roots were harvested from M. oleifera mature tree located at Obe Quarters, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria and authenticated. Thereafter, they were shade-dried, pulverized into fine powder, and 600 g of the root powder were macerated in 100% ethanol for 72 hours. Furthermore, filtration followed and the extract was freeze-dried to paste level and appropriate doses for administration were prepared. Twelve Wistar rats were obtained and allowed to acclimatize for two weeks and maintained on animal feed and tap water ad libitum. Graded doses (150 mg/kg, 300 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg) of the extract were administered to three groups of Wistar rats for a period of 21 days while the control group received distilled water only. On Day 21, blood samples were collected from the various rats and the haematological details were obtained using an auto-haemo-analyser. From the result, with exception to lymphocyte and monocyte percentages, all other blood parameters investigated were not significantly different compared to the control. It may be concluded that ethanol root extract of Moringa oleifera has no sub-acute toxicity on haematological parameters of Wistar rats within the experimented regimen
