Assessment of phenolic content, free-radical-scavenging capacity genotoxic and anti-genotoxic effect of aqueous extract prepared from Moricandia arvensis leaves

The present study was undertaken to provide a set of data on the safety of an aqueous extract (AQE) from Moricandia arvensis. For this reason, Escherichia coli tested strains PQ35 and PQ37 were used to detect induction of DNA lesions by AQE. The SOS Chromotest showed that AQE induced a marginally genotoxic effect, as expressed by the induction factor (IF) value only with E. coli PQ37 tested strain (IF = 1.77 at a dose of 250 μg/assay). The measurement of the anti-genotoxic activity of the AQE was also studied by inhibition of β-galactosidase induction. A significant anti-genotoxic effect was observed with different tested doses of AQE, which suggests that M. arvensis extract has the potential to protect DNA from the action of nitrofurantoïn (NF) and free radicals generated by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). In addition to anti-genotoxic activity, AQE showed a free-radical-scavenging capacity towards ABTS + and DPPH. Total phenolic content was also evaluated following Folin–Ciocalteu method and results indicated high correlation between total phenol content and anti-genotoxic and antioxidant activities for AQE, but the highest correlation was showed with its capacity to stabilize ABTS + (R2 = 0.9944).