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Cited by 16Plant Toxicity and Pharmacological PropertiesAgricultural safety and regulationsSeaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds

Safety assessment of Spirulina platensis through sprague dawley rats modeling

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BASHIR, Shahid, SHARIF, Mian Kamran, JAVED, Muhammad Sameem, AMJAD, Adnan, KHAN, Ammar Ahmad, SHAH, Faiz-ul-Hassan, KHALIL, Anees Ahmad·2020·Food Science and Technology
DOI 10.1590/fst.41918
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Abstract

Health safety of spirulina (Spirulina platensis) for food application was evaluated through hematology and histopathology of liver, spleen and kidney in Sprague Dawley rats fed on three isoproteic diets maintained to 10% protein for forty five days. Three groups of rats were maintained as control diet casein (R-C); diet containing crude spirulina (R-S) and diet containing purified spirulina protein (R-SPI). Hematological profile of the rats group fed on spirulina diets showed no significant increase in white blood cells (WBCs), while there was decreasing trend in the levels of neutrophils (60.46 ± 2.60%) and lymphocytes (33.53 ± 1.06%) in rats that were fed on spirulina diet (R-S) than the other tested experimental diet group. Histopathological examination revealed normal architecture of the liver with no abnormality in kidneys and spleen exhibiting safety of spirulina in both forms to mitigate protein energy malnutrition widely prevalent in developing countries.

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  • Bashir et al. evaluated Spirulina spp. safety by giving rats diets augmented with Spirulina spp. and pure spirulina protein for 45 days; it does not contain toxins and has no adverse effects on spleen, liver, or kidneys.

    “Bashir et al. [39] evaluated the safety of Spirulina spp. by giving rats diets that were augmented with Spirulina spp. and pure spirulina protein for a period of 45 days.”

    From Tendencies Affecting the Growth and Cultivation of Genus Spirulina: An Investigative Review on Current Trends (2022) · cites this paper as Bashir et al. [39]

    The Materials and methods section confirms that rats received diets containing Spirulina platensis or its protein isolate for 45 days. The Conclusion reports no sign of toxicity, but the paper does not establish that spirulina contains no toxins. The Histopathology section describes mild kidney changes and spleen abnormalities, so an unqualified claim of no adverse effects on all three organs overstates the findings. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
BASHIR, S., SHARIF, M. K., JAVED, M. S., AMJAD, A., KHAN, A. A., SHAH, F.-U.-H., & KHALIL, A. A.
Affiliations
  • University of Lahore (PK)
  • The University of Agriculture, Peshawar (PK)
  • Bahauddin Zakariya University (PK)
  • The University of Lahore, Pakistan
ORCID
Venue
Food Science and Technology
Publisher
FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
Published
2020-06
Volume
40
Issue
2
Pages
376-381
ISSN
  • 0101-2061 (ISSN-L)
  • 1678-457X
DOI
10.1590/fst.41918
OpenAlex
W2990528079
Cited by
16
References
4
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 2
FWCI
0.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Food Science and Technology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Plant Toxicity and Pharmacological Properties
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Agricultural safety and regulations
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Aquatic Science › Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds
Keywords
Spirulina platensis, food safety, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, splenotoxicity, hematological profile, liver histopathology, kidney histopathology, spleen histopathology, protein-energy malnutrition

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