Curcuma xanthorrhiza Roxb. known as ‘Temu Lawak’ in Malaysia, is widely used in South East Asian countries in the traditional treatment of many ailments including migraines, constipation, liver complaints and inflammatory conditions. The present study was designed to investigate the toxicity effects of the standardized ethanolic extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza in experimental animals. Brine shrimp lethality test and acute oral toxicity were conducted to evaluate the toxicity effects of this plant. The ethanolic extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza screened for toxicity against brine shrimps showed lethal concentration (LC50) values of more than 1.0 mg/ml confirming that the extract was not toxic and bioactive. Oral administration of standardized ethanolic extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza at the doses 300, 2,000 and 5,000 mg/kg resulted in no mortalities or evidence of adverse effects, indicating that Curcuma xanthorrhiza is non-toxic. This is further proven with the normal behavioral pattern, clinical signs of animals and histopathology analysis of the vital organs. The experimental results suggest that the standardized Curcuma xanthorrhiza ethanolic extract is non-toxic with a high margin of safety.
