Safety evaluation of an extract from Salacia oblonga

Plant extracts from the Salacia genus have been found to have intestinal alpha-glucosidase inhibitor activity, which may have application to the development of medical foods for people with diabetes. We evaluated the safety of a hot water extract of S. oblonga (salacinol extract) supplemented to or processed into a medical food. Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned among one of three treatments: (1) EN-0178 (control, liquid diet), (2) EN-0178+salacinol (as 1 plus 500 mg of salacinol extract per 253 g diet, which was added to product immediately prior to feeding), (3) EN-0195 (as 1 plus 500 mg of salacinol extract per 253 g diet, which was added during product manufacture). After 14 days of free access to dietary treatments, rats were sacrificed, blood collected and organs weighed. Rats consuming salacinol extract had reduced (P <0.05) weight gain and feed intake. The relative (% of body weight) testicular weight was higher (P<0.05) for rats consuming salacinol extract, whereas, the relative liver and spleen weight was lower (P<0.05) for rats consuming salacinol extract. Of the serum chemistries analyzed, blood urea nitrogen and alkaline phosphatase was lower (P<0.05) for rats consuming salacinol extract. No differences in blood hematology were found. We conclude that salacinol extract, in a medical food consumed for 2 weeks in amounts estimated at 10-fold greater than proposed for human intake, did not result in clinical chemistry or histopathologic indications of toxic effects in male Sprague-Dawley rats.