R. Font

In vivo biological activity of rocket extracts (Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa (Miller) Thell) and sulforaphane

Eruca is thought to be an excellent source of antioxidants like phenolic compounds, carotenoids, glucosinolates and their degradation products, such as isothiocyanates. Sulforaphane is one of the most potent indirect antioxidants of Eruca isolated until the date. In this work we investigate: (i) the safety and DNA protective activity of Eruca extracts and sulforaphane (under and without oxidative stress) in Drosophila melanogaster; and (ii) the influence on D. melanogaster life span treated with Eruca extracts and sulforaphane. Our results showed that among the four concentrations of Eruca extracts tested (from 0.625 to 5mg/ml), intermediate concentrations of the Es2 accession (1.25 and 2.5mg/ml) exhibited no genotoxic activity, as well as antigenotoxic activity (inhibition rate of 0.2-0.6) and the lowest concentration of Es2 and Es4 accessions (0.625 mg/ml) also enhanced the health span portion of the live span curves. Sulforaphane presented a high antigenotoxic activity in the SMART test of D. melanogaster and intermediate concentrations of this compound (3.75 μM) enhanced average healthspan. The results of this study indicate the presence of potent antigenotoxic factors in rocket, which are being explored further for their mechanism of action.

Genotoxicity and antigenotoxicity testing of rocket (Eruca sativa (Mill.) Thell) in the Drosophila wing somatic mutation and recombination tests.

Members of the Brassicaceae are known to contain compounds with anticarcinogenic and/or DNA protective effects. The main objective of this work was to characterize the glucosinolate profiles of two accessions of Eruca sativa and to establish the genotoxic and antigenotoxic activities of these plants. Results indicate that: i) neither accession was genotoxic or antigenotoxic at the concentrations studied, ii) antigenotoxicity assays against the DNA oxidizer hydrogen peroxide suggest that Eruca sativa has a modulator effect at intermediate concentrations. This study has potential as a first step in genetic selection of accessions with appropriate glucosinolate content profiles.