Abstract:
Four natural red colors from roselle calyx (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.), beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.), sappan heartwood (Caesalpinia sappan L.), and annatto seed (Bixa orellana L.) were introduced to their respective natural colored steamed starchy desserts. All of them, including each natural color extract, were determined for their antimutagenicity on urethane induced somatic mutation and recombination in Drosophila melanogaster. Three-day old, trans-heterozygous (mwh flr⁺/mwh TM3) larvae obtained by mating virgin ORR flare hair females and mwh/mwh males, were transferred to an experimental medium (containing natural color extract or natural colored dessert) to determine the effect of each sample on the survival of adult files and its mutagenicity. Furthermore, the antimutagenicity of each sample was determined by transferring three-day old larvae to an experimental medium that had urethane as a co-administration study. In addition, pre-feeding studies were performed by mating the parent flies on the experimental medium containing each sample to obtain 3-day old larvae that were subsequently raised on the standard medium containing urethane as the type 1 study or the experimental medium containing urethane as the type 2 study. The wings of the surviving flies wer analyzed for the occurrence of mutant spots. Antioxidant activity of methanolic extract from each sample was assessed by using two methods: 2,2'-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) Assay and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) Assay. The content of phenolic compound in the extracts was also determined using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent. The results showed that none of the samples was mutagenic at the concentration tested. In the co-administration study, all color extracts could reduce mutagenicity of urethane. However, when introduced these colors to the dessert, there were only roselle and beetroot dessert that showed the antimutagenicity. Moreover, while all colors could counteract the mutagenicity of urethane in pre-feeding type 2 study, there were only the desserts containing roselle and beetroot color that expressed antimutagenicity in this study. The protective effects of these natural colors may be due to the presence of antimutagenic components. In addition, the study showed that natural colors had phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity. It is proposed taht these colors might scavenge urethane and/or free radicals that occur during mutagenesis, induce the enzymatic system to detoxify urethane (phase II) and/or inhibit the activity of cytochrome P-450 enzymes (phase I)
