Toxicity of fractions obtained from the legume species Astragalus lusitanicus Lam. lusitanicus.

Extracts of Astragalus lusitanicus Lam. lusitanicus, a European legume very common in southwestern Spain and Portugal, caused in mice acute toxicity, with convulsions and death in a few min, and delayed death after (10-15 days) with first symptoms appearing 6-8 days after a single i.v. dose. The toxic compounds could be separated by column chromatography or methanol solubility, but were unstable and could not be isolated in pure form. Plant toxicity could not be attributed to the previously described compounds pinitol, isormhamnetin glycosides or saccharinic acid lactone, which did not show toxicity in mice after i.v. administration.