Antigenotoxic, Anti-photogenotoxic, and Antioxidant Properties of Shoots Cultivated In Vitro.

Traditional medicinal plants are an important source of active compounds with potential antimutagenic activity. Bailey (Araliaceae) is a South Asian traditional herb used as an adaptogenic and cardiac drug. Extracts of contain a wide range of biologically active compounds like phenolic acids and triterpenoid saponins. In the present study. antigenotoxic potential of three naturally occurring phenolic acids and extracts of growing in vitro with the addition of elicitors was evaluated against direct (4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4NQO) and mitomycin C (MMC)) and indirect mutagens (2-aminoanthracene (2AA)). The evaluation was made using a bacterial -test. Moreover, the ability to prevent photogenotoxicity induced by chlorpromazine (CPZ) under UVA irradiation was measured. The phytochemical profiling of examined extracts revealed the presence of numerous compounds with the prevelance of chlorogenic, caffeic, and ferulic acid derivatives; however, saponin fractions were also determined. The antioxidant potential of extracts strictly correlated with their composition. The tested extracts exhibited high antigenotoxic activity if the assay was performed with 2AA and metabolic activation. Moreover, the extracts slightly decreased the MMC-induced genotoxicity. However, an increase of the genotoxic effect was observed in the assay performed with 4NQO. In addition, photo-antigenotoxic activity was observed. In our study, phenolic acids exhibited lower activity than the extracts.