Toxicological Evaluation of Ethanolic Leaf and Fruit Extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Treated with Wastewater in Danio rerio Hamilton (Zebrafish)

Aleesa Augustine and Jobi Xavier

Background and Objective: The cultivation of Vegetables in the world is facing a shortage of water so that the farmers are forced to use sewage wastewater for cultivation in underdeveloped countries. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to examine the toxicity level of accumulated heavy metals in the vegetables irrigated with sewage water and treated sewage water. The concentration-dependent changes in toxicity of ethanolic leaf and fruit extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris treated with wastewater in Zebrafish were analysed in this study. Materials and Methods: For the experiment, finely ground powders of leaves and fruits of Phaseolus vulgaris were extracted with ethanol. Using different concentrations of these extracts, a toxicity test was done with Danio rerio as per the OECD guidelines 203. Results: Using AAS, heavy metals like lead and manganese were found in higher concentrations in untreated wastewater than in distilled water and treated wastewater. The results indicated that ethanolic leaf extracts of treated wastewater irrigated Phaseolus vulgaris does not induce toxicity when used at a dose below 400 mg L^–1. Leaf extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris grown with wastewater showed the lowest and highest mortality at 100 and 400 mg L^–1, respectively, when compared to other plant extracts. Histopathological variations were also observed in the fishes exposed to the lethal concentrations of plant extracts. Statistical evaluation of the correlation between concentration and mortality percentage was carried out using SPSS. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the leaf and fruit extracts of Phaseolus vulgaris grown with untreated wastewater were more toxic to Danio rerio than other extracts used in the experiment.

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