Safety evaluation of fucoxanthin purified from Undaria pinnatifida

A toxicity study was conducted on fucoxanthin (FX) purified from Undaria pinnatifida. Evaluation was made following the repeated oral dosing of purified FX (>= 95% purity) to rats for 28 days. In the 28-day, repeated oral dose test, purified FX did not show obvious toxicity. However, significant increases in total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels were observed in the blood when the dose of FX was 10 mg/kg/day or higher.