Isolation, Characterization and in vivo toxicity of Delonix regia Raf. Petals on Danio rerio

Abstract

Natural pigments and food colorants have shown a positive impact on human health compared to the use of synthetic pigments and colorants. We are reporting the oral toxicity of Delonix regia Raf. It has natural pigments with various pharmaceutical properties. The crude extract was obtained from the D. regia petals and the functional groups in the extract were characterized with UV, FTIR and the compounds were identified using GC-MS. To analyze the toxicity of the crude extract, Zebrafish was used as a model organism. Different concentrations of the extract (5 μg/mL to 2000 μg/mL) were used in the zebrafish embryo. The results revealed that the toxic effect was only seen at higher concentrations (1000 µg/mL and beyond). In lesser concentrations, no toxicity was observed. This preliminary study forms a basis for further animal studies. Also, it adds a new safe food colorant.