Abstract

CHEMICAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL STUDY OF ALUM STONE USED IN MOROCCAN FOLK MEDICINE

Ouiam Dahmane*, Abdoulassane Zoungrana, Yahia Cherrah and Mina Ait El Cadi

ABSTRACT

Alum stone is one of the most widely used salts in folk medicine. It has been used as a treatment of several human pathologies in traditional Moroccan medicine including, antibacterial, antifungal and hemostatic effects. However, the chemical and toxicological data of alum sold in Morocco are totally missing. The present study aimed to investigate the chemical compounds of alum stone sold by Moroccan herbalists as natural drug and to evaluate oral toxicity of this substance in order to assess its safety profile. Three samples of alum are collected from herbalists in three areas of Morocco and the chemical compositional analysis was done using ion-exchange chromatography and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Then, 500, 1000, 2000mg/kg of alum stone were orally administered to young female mice to evaluate its acute oral toxicity. Observations were made and recorded systemically on 1, 2, 4, 24 and 48 h after dose administration for any signs of toxicity. The findings of chemical analysis reveal that three samples contain aluminum, sulfate and ammonium ions. At 2000mg/kg of alum, no significant variation in the body weights, signs of toxicity or mortality in any of the animals after 14 days of treatment. Therefore, the LD 50 of this salt was estimated to be more than 2000mg/kg. From the results of this study, it concluded that alum used in folk Moroccan medicine is ammonium alum. Further detailed toxicity studies are required to assess the effect of alum stone and aluminum on human health.

Keywords: Alum stone, chemical analysis, acute oral toxicity, Morocco.