Bioactivity of hydroalcoholic extracts from tropaeolum majus L. (tropaeolaceae) on the germination, initial plant development and cell cycle of Lactuca sativa L

ABSTRACT

Natural products are usually considered harmless; however, these substances need to be consumed with caution. Biological assays with plant models are a suitable alternative for prospective studies to assess natural product-initiated toxicity. The aim of this study was to examine the toxic potential of leaf and flower extracts derived from Tropaeolum majus L. a widely used plant in traditional medicine. Seeds of Lactuca sativa L. were exposed to T. majus extracts and based upon the seedling growth curve values, the 50% Inhibition Concentration (IC₅₀) was calculated and applied for cell cycle analysis exposure. Both extracts contained organic acids, proteins, amino acids, and terpene steroids. Sesquiterpene lactones and depside were detected in leaf extracts. The higher concentration tested exhibited a marked phytotoxic effect. The extracts induced clastogenic, aneugenic cytotoxic, and potential mutagenic effects. The possible relationships between the classes of compounds found in the extracts and effects on cells and DNA were determined.

KEYWORDS:

• Phytotoxic
• clastogenic
• aneugenic
• medicinal plants
• unconventional plants
• nasturtium
• Lactuca sativa

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Federal University of Lavras – UFLA for granting of scholarship to F. E. Santos.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Larissa Fonseca Andrade Vieira is a researcher with ten years of experience in phyto-geno-toxic studies and all the experimental designs applied here were derived from a wide range of experiments to find optimal test conditions for studies in this field.

Author contributions

L. F. Andrade-Vieira concept and designed the work; F. E. Santos and M. S. S. Carvalho organized the experiments and collected the data; F. E. Santos analyzed and interpreted the data collected and,drafted the article; M. G. Cardoso and L. R. Vilela edited and revised the writing; L. F. Andrade-Vieira critically reviewed the article and edited the final version to be published.

Data availability statement

Data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, L.F. Andrade-Vieira, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by Brazilian funding agency “Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel” (CAPES – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior)” as doctoral fellowship. Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – (CAPES).