ANTIMUTAGENIC AND ANTIGENOTOXIC EFFECTS OF VEGETABLE MATRICES ON THE ACTIVITY OF PESTICIDES

Marina Isidori (1) , Emanuela Caterino (2) , Emma Criscuolo (2) , Veronica Fatigati (2) , Giovanni Liguori (3) , Alfredo Parrella (2)

1 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita
2 Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita
3 Controllo e Verifica della Qualità di Prodotti Agroalimentari

Two in vitro tests, one to detect bacterial mutagenicity (Ames test) on Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, TA1535 and the other the primary DNA damage (SOS Chromotest) on E. coli PQ37, were applied to determine the overall genotoxic activity of twelve pesticides (Azinphos methyl, Chlorothalonil, Chlorphyriphos ethyl, Chlorphyriphos methyl, λ-Cyhalothrin, Cypermethrin, Cyprodinil, Fenazaquin, Fludioxonil, Indoxacarb, Iprodione, Penconazol) detected by GC analysis associated with electron capture (ECD) and nitrogen-phosphorus detector (NPD) in eighteen samples of vegetables. Some extracts of vegetables, found positive for pesticides with GC, were subjected to Ames test and SOS Chromotest to evaluate the possible antimutagenic and/or antigenotoxic effects of vegetable matrices. The same bioassays were also performed on the mixtures of pesticides found in these samples to evaluate whether interactions could occur between pesticides and be responsible of the possible antimutagenic and/or antigenotoxic effects of the contaminated matrices. Experiments were also carried out to compare the results found for the contaminated vegetables to their contents in antioxidant components. Significant differences in mutagenicity and genotoxicity were found among the pesticides selected for this study. Of the twelve pesticides tested only Azinphos methyl, Cyprodinil, Fludioxonil and Iprodione were found to be positive both for S. typhimurium and for E. coli. No mutagenic/genotoxic activity was found in the extracts of vegetables contaminated by pesticides. The S. typhimurium TA1535 showed a strong positive mutagenic effect for the mixtures of pesticides while they were not able to induce the SOS system. The data concerning the content in polyphenols and the total reducing activity of the contaminated vegetables indicated high amounts of antioxidants that could explain the inhibitory effect on the activity of pesticides shown by vegetables.

Mots clés: Life Sciences

Marina Isidori, Emanuela Caterino, Emma Criscuolo, Veronica Fatigati, Giovanni Liguori, et al.. ANTIMUTAGENIC AND ANTIGENOTOXIC EFFECTS OF VEGETABLE MATRICES ON THE ACTIVITY OF PESTICIDES. Food Additives and Contaminants, 2009, 26 (07), pp.1049-1062. ⟨10.1080/02652030902896194⟩. ⟨hal-00573861⟩