Toxicity in food flavorings at the cellular level associated with each other at different doses

• Published in: Acta scientiarum. Biological sciences 2016-01, Vol.38 (1), p.77, Article 77
• Main Authors: Silva, Sara Iolanda Oliveira da, Santana, Gleuvânia Marques, Sales, Ila Monize Sousa, Sousa, João Marcelo de Castro e, Peron, Ana Paula
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: A. cepa; aroma and flavor additives; cytotoxicity; Flavors; Food additives; genotoxicity; Toxicity
• ISSN: 1679-9283; 1807-863X
• DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v38i1.30475

This study aimed to examine the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of synthetic flavorings, nature identical, Chocolate, Strawberry and Condensed Milk. This evaluation was performed in root meristem cells of Allium cepa L., in exposure times of 24 and 48 hours and using doses of 0.2; 0.4 and 0.6 mL, in combination, in which one of the three doses of a flavoring was combined with a different dose of one of the two other flavor additives studied. Roots were fixed in Carnoys solution, hydrolyzed in hydrochloric acid, stained with acetic orcein and then analyzed, under light microscopy, 5,000 cells for each treatment. For data analysis, it was used Chi-square test at 5%. All the treatments with combinations between the flavorings Chocolate/Strawberry and Strawberry/Condensed Milk reduced, in both exposure times considered, cell division of A. cepa roots, proving to be cytotoxic. In turn, the treatments with the association of Chocolate/Condensed Milk did not change significantly the mitotic index of the cells analyzed. The Strawberry flavoring was the most cytotoxic among the additives tested. None of the evaluated associations was genotoxic under the study conditions.