ABSTRACT

Nowadays, advancements in science and technology have significantly led to the development of various methods and technics to artificially stimulate the ripening process of fruit. This is done mostly to meet high demand of consumers, especially during the off season. Calcium carbide which is very cheap chemical substance is one of such chemicals used for ripening fruit such as orange, banana, guava etc. This study was therefore designed to investigate the effect of calcium carbide ingestion on body weight, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and heart histology of Wistar rats. A total of 70 male Wistar rats weighing between 140-220g were used. After acclimatization for two weeks, the rats were separated into four groups. Group I served as control and was fed with grower mash and water ad libitum. While group II to IV served as the experimental groups comprising low dose (0.96mg/kg BW), medium dose (1.9       2mg/kg BW) and high dose (2.88mg/kg BW). On a weekly basis the weight of the rats were taken as well as blood sample for ESR test. At the end of the end of experiment the hearts were preserved in formal saline solution for histological investigation. Statistical analysis was done using graph pad prism 8.1 and ANOVA was used to compare the means, a value of p<0.05 was taken as statistically significant. The body weight of the rats fed with high dose were significantly increased when compared with control. The ESR showed no significant difference. The histology of the heart showed no significant abnormality. Ingestion of calcium carbide had no significant effects on body weight, ESR and heart histology of wistar rats.