Bioassay-Based Assessment of Food Preservatives’ Toxic Effects

• Published in: Russian agricultural sciences Vol. 47; no. 5; pp. 536 - 540
• Main Authors: Samoylov, A. V., Suraeva, N. M., Zaytseva, M. V., Petrov, A. N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acids; Agriculture; Aqueous solutions; Benzoic acid; Bioassays; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Body weight gain; Carcinogens; Cell proliferation; Chromosome aberrations; Chromosomes; Enzymatic activity; Experimental methods; Genotoxicity; Growth conditions; Impact analysis; Life Sciences; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; Meristems; Oxidative stress; Peroxidation; Plant Biochemistry; Plant tissues; Preservatives; Side effects; Sorbic acid; Storage and Processing of Agricultural Products; toxicity; bioassay; irreversibility of side effects; food preservatives
• ISSN: 1068-3674; 1934-8037
• DOI: 10.3103/S1068367421050141

Benzoic and sorbic acids, being the most common food preservatives, may pose a risk to human health in case of excessive intake over a prolonged period and cause mutagenic and carcinogenic effects. A plant bioassay (with Allium) was used to analyze the nature of the side effects of these acids, particularly their reversibility. The experimental method imposed some treatment of onion root tips with aqueous solutions of benzoic and sorbic acids of 50 and 100 mg/L, which was followed by regenerative root tip growth in water. A comparative assessment was performed with the parameters, including weight gain, lipid peroxidation enzyme activities in root tissues, mitotic index, and chromosome aberrations in meristem cells. A reversible toxic effect of the analyzed preservatives on the root weight gain was recorded since its rate in the test samples under the regenerative growth conditions was not different and even slightly exceeded the control values (at 100 mg/L). The root treatment with sorbic and benzoic acids caused multiple decreases in the mitotoxic index of meristem cells. However, the level of proliferation in the test samples was not different from that in the control samples under the extended incubation of test samples in the absence of preservatives. Similar results were obtained when evaluating the oxidative stress in root tissues caused by the sorbic acid impact. The analysis of chromosomal aberrations after the root treatment with benzoic acid at a concentration of 100 mg/L could only record a significant irreversible genotoxic effect. The levels of chromosome aberrations in these samples were higher than that in the control. In addition, their spectra were different.