Phytochemical Profiling and Toxicity Assessment of Aqueous Extract From Bitter Apricot Kernels Cultivated in Morocco

Apricot kernels contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside that degrades to cyanide upon chewing or crushing, posing a potential toxicity risk to humans. The present study aimed to determine the phenolic compounds and to evaluate the subacute and acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of bitter apricot kernels (BAKs) in Swiss albino mice. The chemical characterization was carried out with HPLC-DAD analyses, and acute toxicity was done by extract's oral administration once for 72-h period at doses of 500-6000 mg/kg body weight (bw). For the subacute toxicity, mice were administrated orally by repeated doses of 100, 500, and 1000 mg/kg bw for 28 days. The hematological, biochemical parameters and the histological examinations of vital organs (kidney, liver, and spleen) were done by sacrificing the animals after the subacute toxicity period. The results revealed 11 phenolic compounds with a total of 61 mg/g of extract. In the acute toxicity study, no signs of toxicity or mortality were observed during the experiment period, and the LD₅₀ value was higher than 6000 mg/kg bw. In the subacute toxicity, only the group treated with the greatest dose (1000 mg/kg bw) exhibited a significant decrease in the hematocrit and slight increase in urea, and creatinine. The results of this study indicate that the aqueous extract of BAK was not toxic to mice at the tested concentrations. This provides valuable information regarding its toxicity profile.