Safety assessment of crude saponins from Chenopodium quinoa willd. husks: 90-day oral toxicity and gut microbiota & metabonomic study in rats

Abstract The subchronic toxicity of saponins of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. husks in healthy adult Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats was explored. Female and male rats were randomly divided into 0, 5, 50, and 500 mg/kg body weight (BW)/day groups. Subchronic general toxicity, metabolism and gut microbiota were assessed. The rats treated with saponins weighed less and had lower blood sugar levels (P