Studies on the purity and short-term toxicity of ethyl methylphenylglycidate (strawberry aldehyde) in rats

Abstract

A sample of strawberry aldehyde was selected for study following gas chromatography of samples from five manufacturers. This ethyl methylphenylglycidate (EMPG) was fed to male and female rats at dietary levels of 0 (control), 0.02, 0.1 and 0.5% for 15 wk, and was found to have no effect on the growth rate, food consumption or water consumption of the animals. The only effects attributable to EMPG were organ-weight changes in the animals fed 0.5% EMPG for 15 wk. These changes consisted of increased absolute and relative stomach, small-intestine and caecum weights, and increased relative liver and kidney weights in the female rats and increases in absolute and relative kidney weight and relative liver weight in the male rats. These changes were not associated with any histological abnormalities. There was no evidence of neuropathy from the co-ordinated muscular activity of the animals or from the histology of the sciatic and brachial nerves. The no-untoward-effect level in this study was, therefore, 0.1% EMPG, which corresponded to intakes of approximately 150 and 60 mg/kg/ day respectively at the beginning and end of the study.