Toxicological Evaluation of Essential Oil and Ethanolic Extracts of Ruta graveolens in Artemia salina

Traditional medicine is part of humanity’s cultural heritage and has been used for thousands of years to the present day. Different plants have extensive pharmacological activity, and it is used against various diseases, but the safe use of plants with pharmacological effects is still uncertain. R. graveolens is a specie known as medicinal plant since ancient times and currently used for treatment of various diseases, but at the same time, there are certain toxic components in its chemical composition. The toxicity of essential oil and ethanolic extracts at 50 and 96% of R. graveolens in Artemia salina was evaluated in this research. In addition, a qualitative comparison of the chemical components present in the essential oil and in the extracts was made by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). For the preparation of the extracts and the essential oil, flowers, leaves, and stems of the species previously dried were used, which were subjected to a process of maceration and distillation by steam drag, respectively, obtaining 0.13% yield of the essential oil. The FT-IR comparison of the essential oil with the spectra of 2-nonanone and 2-undecanone indicates the presence of C=O groups, C–H, C–C bonds, allowing the identification of ketones. For the toxicity test, the essential oil and the extracts at doses 0.1, 1, 10, and 100 ppm were used in A. salina for 24 h. Essential oil at concentrations > 10 ppm and ethanolic extract at concentrations > 25 ppm caused the death of more than 50% of individuals.