International Journal of Pharmacy and Chemistry 2017; 3(6): 82-85 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijpc doi: 10.11648/j.ijpc.20170306.13 ISSN: 2575-5730 (Print); ISSN: 2575-5749 (Online) Toxicological Studies of Fruit Powder and Extracted Cake of Melia volkensii Guerke (Family: Meliaceae) on Maasai Goats in Kenya Wanzala Wycliffe Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science and Information Sciences, Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya Email address: osundwa1@yahoo.com To cite this article: Wanzala Wycliffe. Toxicological Studies of Fruit Powder and Extracted Cake of Melia volkensii Guerke (Family: Meliaceae) on Maasai Goats in Kenya. International Journal of Pharmacy and Chemistry. Vol. 3, No. 6, 2017, pp. 82-85. doi: 10.11648/j.ijpc.20170306.13 Received: May 28, 2017; Accepted: October 8, 2017; Published: November 15, 2017 Abstract: Goat supplement feeds prepared from a dried Melia volkensii (Mv) fruit powder, which is known to contain insecticidal activity and the residual cake obtained after extracting oil from the fruit powder with aqueous ethanol, to remove the insecticidal activity do not adversely affect the growth and performance of Maasai goats even after exposure to the feed for two months. The feed prepared from the residual Mv cake was found to be more acceptable and palatable to the goats compared to the Mv powder, which was unextracted. Goats fed on the Mv residual cake also showed better performance than the controls fed on the wheat bran supplement or the ones fed on Mv powder. It is concluded from this study that Mv dry fruit powder and Mv extracted residual cake could be used as safe ruminant feed supplements in rural areas where M. volkensii is prominently on medicinal common use traditionally. The results also indicated that Mv is non-toxic to this ruminant mammalian model, hence environmentally safe for human use as insecticide with respect to a wide range of ethnic-based traditional claims. However, more in-depth scientific studies are necessary to generate sufficient data under different environmental conditions for comparative analysis and henceforth, considerations. Keywords: Feed Supplement, Insecticide, Insect Growth Inhibitor, Maasai Goats, Melia volkensii 1. Introduction Melia volkensii Guerke, 1895 (Family: Meliaceae) is a tropical tree found growing throughout the East African countries and native in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania [1, 2]. The tree is deciduous, open crowned and laxly branched, ranging between 6 and 20 m tall when fully grown and mature. It is widely used in folk medicine for treatment of a number of diseases including pain relief [3] in a similar version, just like the Azadirachta indica A. Juss., 1830 (Neem), the popular medicinal plant native to India and the Indian subcontinent including Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka [4]. Extracts from milled whole dried fruits have been reported to contain a potent insect antifeedant activity against the desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria [5] and a growth inhibiting activity against mosquito larvae [6, 7]. More recently, the ethanol soluble fraction has been demonstrated to be effective in the field control of the desert locust [8, 9, 10], thus raising the hope that Melia volkensii (Mv) could become a commercially feasible insecticide for locust control. The uses and applications of M. volkensii are on the increase and this therefore warrants more in-depth scientific and social studies on the plant in order to exhaust its potential value to humanity and further evaluate its environmental safety. The aim of this study therefore was to evaluate the Mv residual cake as a ruminant animal supplement feed as well as to attempt to detect any toxicological effects the Mv milled powder and extracted cake that they may have on the Maasai goat as a mammalian ruminant animal model since the goat is known to feed on the M. volkensii fruits in pasture. 2. Materials and Methods Ripe fruits of M. volkensii were obtained from Embu, 150 km north of Nairobi, Kenya. The fruits were dried under shade and pulverised to a fine powder by means of a hammer-mill until the powder passed through a 1 mm mesh sieve. Part of the powder was extracted with 99% ethanol to exhaustion. The extracted