Antiproliferative, genotoxic and mutagenic potential of synthetic chocolate food flavoring

Abstract

Flavoring additives are of great technological importance for the food industry. However, there is little information regarding the toxicological properties of these micro-ingredients, especially at the cellular level. The present study used meristematic root cells of Allium cepa L. to evaluate the toxicity of a liquid, aroma and flavor synthetic chocolate additive, manufactured and widely marketed throughout Brazil and exported to other countries in South America. The flavoring concentrations evaluated were 100.00; 50.00; 25.00; 1.00; 0.50 and 0.25 µL/L, where the highest concentration established was one-hundred times lower than that commercially suggested for use. The concentration 100 µL/L substantially reduced cell division of meristems within 24- and 48-hours exposure. Concentrations from 100.00 to 0.50 µL/L resulted in a significant number of prophases to the detriment of the other phases of cell division, indicating an aneugenic activity, and induced a significant number of cellular changes, with emphasis on micronuclei, nuclear buds and chromosomal breaks. Under the established analysis conditions, with the exception of concentration 0.25 µL/L, the flavoring of chocolate caused cytotoxicity, genotoxicity and mutagenicity to root meristems.

Removal of bentazone using activated carbon from spent coffee grounds

“…It is highly sensitive, even when the concentrations of these compounds in water are very low. [87][88][89] The results obtained with this assay have a high correlation with results observed in toxicity tests with animals and cell culture. 89,90 In the present study, based on the ecotoxicity results (Table 7), bentazone before adsorption caused a significant reduction in root elongation.…”

“…The A. cepa test system is internationally recognized as a biomodel for evaluating systemic and cellular ecotoxicity of herbicides. It is highly sensitive, even when the concentrations of these compounds in water are very low 87‐89 . The results obtained with this assay have a high correlation with results observed in toxicity tests with animals and cell culture 89,90 …”

Drogas usadas como controles positivos nos ensaios de toxicidade com Allium cepa L.: uma revisão da literatura

“…Os estudos incluídos foram publicados em português (Frota et al, 2019), inglês (Pereira et al, 2017;Wandscheer et al, 2017;Montalvão et al, 2019;Khan;Anas;Malik, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020;Dias et al, 2021;Frâncica et al, 2021;Ferreira et al, 2022) e espanhol (López-Rojas; Becerra-Gutiérrez; Díaz-Vélez, 2019). Dois artigos (Pereira et al, 2017;Khan;Anas;Malik, 2019) apresentaram nível I de evidências e oito artigos (Wandscheer et al, 2017;Frota et al, 2019;López-Rojas;Becerra-Gutiérrez;Díaz-Vélez, 2019;Montalvão et al, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020;Dias et al, 2021;Frâncica et al, 2021;Ferreira et al, 2022) apresentaram nível II.…”

“…Entre os estudos selecionados, houve um ensaio de antimutagenicidade (López-Rojas;Becerra-Gutiérrez;Díaz-Vélez, 2019), ou seja, o estudo verificou a capacidade de evitar ou reduzir as mutações genéticas, sete ensaios que se concentraram na análise da mutagenicidade (Wandscheer et al, 2017;Frota et al, 2019;Khan;Anas;Malik, 2019;Montalvão et al, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020;Frâncica et al, 2021;Ferreira et al, 2022), ou seja, buscavam identificar substâncias com potencial de causar mutações genéticas, e dois ensaios que avaliaram tanto a antimutagenicidade quanto a mutagenicidade (Wandscheer et al, 2017;Dias et al, 2021). Para a realização dos experimentos, um estudo (Pereira et al, 2017) utilizou duas drogas como controle positivo sendo elas, metanossulfonato de metila (MMS) e trifluralina (TRI), três estudos (Khan;Anas;Malik, 2019;Dias et al, 2021;Frâncicaetal., 2021) utilizaram apenas MMS, dois estudos (López-Rojas;Becerra-Gutiérrez;Díaz-Vélez, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020) utilizaram Azida sódica (AS), um estudo (Ferreira et al, 2022) utilizou colchicina (COL), um estudo (Montalvão et al, 2019) utilizou ciclofosfamida (CF), um estudo (Frota et al, 2019) utilizou paracetamol (PA) e um estudo (Wandscheer et al, 2017) utilizou Glifosato (GLF).…”

“…Esta revisão incluiu um total de dez estudos que adotaram de maneira experimental o teste de Allium cepa como sistema de avaliação de toxicidade (Wandscheer et al, 2017;Pereira et al, 2017;Frota et al, 2019;Khan;Anas;Malik, 2019;López-Rojas;Becerra-Gutiérrez;Díaz-Vélez, 2019;Montalvão et al, 2019;Almeida et al, 2020;Dias et al, 2021;Frâncica et al, 2021;Ferreira et al, 2022). Os estudos selecionados empregaram substâncias químicas reconhecidas por seus efeitos danosos como controles positivos.…”