[Toxicity of d-Arabinose in Male and Female Rats].

In order to investigate the feasibility of using the rare sugar d-arabinose as a functional food material, we examined its toxicity in rats. In an acute toxicity study, the lethal dose (LD50) was calculated to be 12.1 g/kg in males and 11.6 g/kg in females. On the other hand, in a short-term toxicity test, rats developed diarrhea when given feed containing 5% d-arabinose, which was the minimum amount added, so the maximum nontoxic amount was estimated to be less than 5%. Thus, the toxicity of d-arabinose is stronger than that of another rare sugar, d-psicose, which was reported to show no toxicity when added at 10% in the diet. Further studies are needed to establish whether d-arabinose would be safe for use as a functional ingredient.