GENOTOXICITY OF SPONDIAS MOMBIN X SPONDIAS TUBEROSA AND TURNERA SUBULATA FROM THE BRAZILIAN CAATINGA BIOME
Genotoxicity; SMART; Herbal extracts; Medicinal plantas
Medicinal plants are used worlwideby the population for primary health care, through a knowledge that goes from generation to generation. In this context are Turnera subulata and Spondias mombin×Spondias tuberosa, species widely used by popular medicine of the Brazilian northeast for the treatment of several diseases. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic properties of leaf extracts of these species through the SMART test in somatic cells of Drosophila melanogaster wings. To verify the genotoxic potential, the experiments were carried out using standard cross (ST) and high-bioactivation cross (HB) and three different concentrations of the aqueous extract (EAT and EAS) at 5.0; 10.0 and 20.0 mg / mL, ethanolic extract (EET and EES) and ethyl acetate fraction (FAET and FAES) at 0.625; 1.25 and 2.5 mg/mL. The results showed the extracts and the fractions induced spontaneous frequencies of mutant spots in both D. melanogaster crosses. However, the highest concentrations of the tested plant chemical agents caused a statistically significant genotype effect. Therefore, T. subulata and S. mombin×S. tuberosa exhibited genotoxic effect under the experimental conditions. This is important due to the deleterious and side effects, considering the indiscriminate use of extracts of these plants for the treatment of diseases. However, further studies are required to confirm these effects