Genotoxic Effect of Four Medicinal Plant Extracts on Pisum Sativum Cv. Arikil

The leaf extracts from four medicinal plants viz., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Tectona grandis L.f., Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. and Eucalyptus tereticornis J.E. Smith were evaluated using Pisum sativum (Linn.) reduced mitotic index in a dose-dependent manner. The percentage of increasing abnormal mitotic plates was also concentration and time dependent. Commonly observed abnormalities were c-mitosis, laggard, bridges, stickiness, precocious separation, vagrant and fragments. The results indicate that commonly used aqueous leaf extracts of above plants has significant mutagenic action on plant model P. sativum var. Arikil. Herbal medicines prepared using various plant parts of the plant are being used all over the world to cure human diseases. It is well known that the medicinal property of plants or plant extracts is due to the phytochemical substances present in it (Prabhu et al. 2011). The World Health Organization estimates that up to 80% of the world’s populations rely on the traditional medicinal system for some aspects of primary health care (Farnsworth et al. 1985). Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Tectona grandis L.f., Dalbergia sissoo Roxb. and Eucalyptus tereticornis J.E. Smith are well known because of their medicinal use (Majumdar et al. 2007, Asif and Kumar 2011, Sengottayan 2007). However, these plants may exert toxic effect on other plants as the genetic constitution and metabolic pattern are different. In the present investigation the genotoxic effects of four medicinal plant (A. indica, T. grandis, D. sissoo and E. tereticornis) extracts in root tip cells of P. sativum var. Arikil were carried out. Fresh leaves of A. indica, T. grandis, D. sissoo and E. tereticornis were collected from different parts of the campus of Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, India. The leaves were collected from the middle region of the tree canopy, washed and shade-dried in the laboratory. The leaves were powdered with the help of a blender and different concentration of the extract (12.5, 25 and 50 g/l) was prepared by using double distilled water. The solutions were kept in water bath maintained at 45 55oC for 24 hrs. The resultant extracts were filtered through sterile cotton followed by Whatman No.1 filter paper, sealed and stored in a refrigerator until further use. Healthy uniform grains of P. sativum cv. Arikil (2n = 14) were obtained from the Agriculture Seed Store, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh, Jhansi, India. Before germination, the grains were surface sterilized with 1% sodium hypochlorite for 20 min followed by rinsing with distilled water for several times to remove excess of chemical. The seeds were pre-soaked in distilled water for 3 hrs and then soaked in aqueous extracts of leaves of different medicinal plants for 6 hrs. The seeds from different treatment groups (30 each) were placed on moistened pre-sterilized cotton in Petri dishes (15 cm dia) and incubated in a plant growth cabinet for 120 hrs in dark at 20 ± 2°C. Seeds in the control groups (Ck) were treated with the double distilled water. The entire experiment was repeated thrice under similar experimental conditions. *Author for correspondence. .