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Analysis of chemical compounds and toxicological evaluation of Forsythia suspensa leaves tea

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Abstract

To determine the compositions of Forsythia suspensa leaves tea (FSLT) and its safety, the chemical compounds were analysed with some methods, and the toxicity was evaluated in Kunming mice and Wistar rats. The results showed that FSLT contained rich flavonoid, lignans, triperpene acids, amino acids, and mineral elements. In the acute toxicity study, none of the mice died, and no obvious poisoning symptoms were observed after 14 days in mice at the dose of 15 mg/g·body weight (bw) FSLT; in the sub-chronic toxicity, no abnormal or dead rat was found at the dose of 1, 3, and 10 mg/g·bw during 90 days feeding administration; there was no significant difference in bw and food consumption; no significant differences were found in each hematology and serum biochemistry parameter and organ/body weight ratio comparing with the control experimental group. The results revealed that the FSLT has low or no toxicity via oral administration. Therefore, FSLT is very suitable and safe to be used as a new resource food.

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Acknowledgment

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province (No. 172102310543).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food and Bioengineering, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, 471023, China

    Da-Hong Wang, Meng-Yang Wang, Wen-Hao Shen & Jiang-Feng Yuan

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing, 210002, China

    Da-Hong Wang & Jiang-Feng Yuan

  3. Henan Engineering Research Center of Food Microbiology, Luoyang, 471023, China

    Da-Hong Wang & Jiang-Feng Yuan

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  1. Da-Hong Wang
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  2. Meng-Yang Wang
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Correspondence to Jiang-Feng Yuan.

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Wang, DH., Wang, MY., Shen, WH. et al. Analysis of chemical compounds and toxicological evaluation of Forsythia suspensa leaves tea. Food Sci Biotechnol 30, 305–314 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-020-00855-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-020-00855-y

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