155

Ife Journal of Science vol. 14, no. 1 (2012)

CYTOGENETIC EFFECTS OF TWO FOOD PRESERVATIVES, SODIUM

METABISULPHITE AND SODIUM BENZOATE ON THE ROOT TIPS OF ALLIUM
CEPA LINN.
Onyemaobi, O. I*, Williams, G. O. and Adekoya, K. O.
Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos State
*Corresponding Author:
e-mail: rosyolivehart@yahoo.com
Received: March, 2012; Accepted June, 2012

ABSTRACT
Allium cepa assay has been used extensively to determine the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of compounds on
plants and animals. The cytogenetic effects of two commonly used food preservatives, sodium benzoate and
sodium metabisulphite were evaluated using the A. cepa assay. The parameters scored for the different
concentrations of the compounds tested are: root length, chromosomal aberrations and Mitotic Index. The
Mitotic Index (MI) decreased with increasing concentration of both sodium benzoate and sodium
metabisulphite. Cytological aberrations observed were clumping, fragmentation, pulverization, lagging,
binucleate cells and reduction in chromatin materials. Clumping and fragmentation were the most frequent
aberrations. The percentage of chromosomal aberrations at mitosis increased with increase in concentration of
the food preservatives. The effects of sodium metabisulphite at the different concentrations in this study were
very detrimental as more aberrations were recorded even after the recovery experiment. The results of this
experiment show that these additives had irreversible cytotoxic effects at some levels of dosage. It supports the
call for the banning of these substances as food preservatives.
Key words: Chromosome Aberration, Food Preservatives, Mitotic Index; Allium cepa Assay.

INTRODUCTION:
Food additives are substances not
normally consumed as food and not usually used
as typical food ingredients but used as additives in
foods or pharmaceuticals to achieve specified
chemical effects in the final food product.
Currently, there are over 3000 additives with
different functions in use in the food industry and
they are classified based on their functions. For
example, they could be classified as preservatives,
colourings, non-nutritive sweeteners, ingredient
improvers and many more. As natural
preservatives, they are as effective as synthetic
preservatives
(Etteh 2003; Doyle, 2007;
Turkoglu, 2007; Daoliang and Chunjiang, 2009).
The need for food preservation will
remain for all time if the world is to cater for the
global population which is ever increasing at an
alarming geometric progression (FAO/WHO,
1994). The need for food preservation will
increase as new food sources are expected to cater
for the ever-increasing global human population
(Kumar and Panneerselvam, 2007). Traditional
methods of preservation usually aim to shut out
air, moisture, and microorganisms (Aworh, 2008).
Synthetic/chemical preservation are generally
seen as an almost perfect method of ensuring food
availability. They are also commonly used because
it has been reported that they have a longer shelf

life and they assist with contamination by

inhibiting the growth of moulds and bacteria.
Many scientific investigations have shown
that some of these chemical preservatives used,
especially those with antimicrobial functions have
adverse effect on health in different test systems
(Turkoglu, 2007). Numerous potentially
mutagenic chemicals have been studied mainly
because they can cause damaging and heritable
changes in the genetic material, which are usually
not immediately expressed. It has also been
demonstrated that many of the chemical food
preservatives are decomposed or converted into
other by-products such as sulphites, disulphides or
sulphides and many more have a variety of
biological effects that could be antimicrobial,
antioxidizing or chelating (Armando and Pilar,
2006).
Sodium benzoate occurs naturally in several
fruits like the apples, cranberries, prunes and in
spices like cinnamon and cloves. The presence of
sodium benzoate in these foods does not make it
function as a preservative. It is also present in
beers, tomatoes and other sauces. It is usually
produced chemically and added as a preservative
in foods where it has major antimicrobial
function, being most effective against yeast and
mould. Sodium benzoate is a common
preservative in soft drinks because it suppresses
the growth of bacteria and fungi under the acidic

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Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

conditions found in carbonated beverages. It has

excellent solubility in water and it is sparingly
soluble in alcohol (Seager and Slabaugh, 2000).
Sodium metabisulphite is also known as E223 in
the food industry. Food items containing this
preservative are some fruit juices, concentrated
soft drinks, beer and wine. Sulphites are primarily
used as antioxidants or antimicrobial agents to
prevent or reduce the discolouration of lightcoloured fruits and vegetables. Sodium
metabisulphite is an excellent anti-melanosis
additive for sea food (Omar, 1998). It can decrease
the vitamin composition, especially of vitamin B1
in food; as an additive, non-sensitives are safe
(Luck et al., 1997).
There are various reports on the abuse
of some food additives but to prevent this and also
to ensure that consumers have food products of
suitable quality, national regulatory authorities of
each country and the Codex Alimentarius
Commission publish lists of permitted additives,
the modes of their administration and
recommended dosages in specified foods. In
Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has
adopted the Codex General Standard for Food
Additives (GSFA) and uses the permitted list of
additives attached to that standard (Etteh, 2003).
The accepted daily intake (ADI) is an estimate of
the amount of food additive expressed on a body
weight basis that can be ingested daily over a life
time without appreciable health risk. The ADI of
benzoates is 0-5 mg/kg of body weight while that
of sulphites is 0-0.7 mg/kg of body weight
(FAO/WHO, 1994).
The Allium assay was introduced by
Levan in 1938; it is a short term biological assay
and has been proposed as a standard method for
toxicity testing. Some advantages of Allium assay
include the fact that A. cepa is readily available all
year round, it is relatively easy to handle, it
provides good mitotic spreads for analysis, it is
economical and shows a good correlation with a
number of other test systems (El-shahaby et al.,
2003; Fiskesjo, 1985). Allium cepa roots contain
oxidase enzyme which activates the conversion of
promutagens into mutagens.
The 1974 World Health Organization
Report Series on food additives reported that
benzoate was toxic to mice, rats, rabbits, guinea
pigs and dogs. It has also been reported that
sodium benzoate and sodium sulphite in the roots
of Vicia faba inhibit DNA synthesis and cause the

formation of anaphase bridges, premature

chromosome condensation leading to pycnotic
nuclei and chromatin erosion in interphase nuclei
(Njagi and Gopalan, 1982). The genotoxicity tests
for benzyl alcohol, benzoic acid and sodium
benzoate have been reported to have mostly
negative effects but some assays were positive
(Turkoglu, 2007). Ishidate and Odashima (1977)
reported positive chromosomal aberration tests in
vitro on Chinese hamster cells grown in culture
with sodium benzoate.
Rencuzogullari et al. (2001a) in their work
on the effect of this food preservative in human
lymphocytes recorded induced chromosome
aberrations and sister chromatid exchanges,
decreased replication and mitotic indices that were
dose-dependent. Sodium metabisulhpite was also
found to have genotoxic effect on the bone
marrow of rats (Kayraldiz and Topaktas, 2007). In
plants, it was also recorded that sodium
metabisulphite induced a significant reduction of
frequency of dividing meristematic cells in
Calendula officinalis (pot marigold) root tips. The
most frequent aberration observed was the
anaphase-telophase bridges. This incidence of
aberrant cells increased proportional to increase
of food additive concentration (Marc and
Capraru, 2008).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The root tips of Allium cepa (Linn.) were
used as the test system. The dry outer scales were
removed from healthy onion bulbs and the discs
were trimmed at the base with a clean, sharp blade
taking great care not to destroy the root primordia.
The prepared bulbs of Allium cepa were seated on
3
25cm vials filled with tap water for 2-4 days. The
food preservatives, sodium benzoate (E211) and
sodium metabisulphite (E223) were used as the
test substances.
The effect of the test substances on the
onion root tips was conducted using 0.25M,
0.10M, 0.05M and 0.025M of the substances and
the onion bulbs were placed directly on them. In
another setup, there was the initial growth of the
onion bulbs in tap water, the bulbs were
transferred to a series of concentrations of the
two test substances for 3, 6, 9 and 24 treatment
hours. Five bulbs were used for each
concentration and duration of treatment as well as
for the control setup left in tap water. The lengths
of the newly emerged roots were measured before
transfer to the test solutions and also after the 6

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

hours and 24 hours treatment times. A

concentrationresponse curve was drawn with the
EC50 determined by simple interpolation (Taiwo et
al., 2006). After each treatment time, some root
tips were removed and fixed immediately in 1:3
Acetic-Ethanol for 24 hours.
Five root tips were cut from each bulb.
After fixation, the root tip was placed at the centre
of a clean microscope-slide and cut into smaller
bits using dissecting needles. The root tip was
macerated in drops of 1N HCl for hydrolysis for 5
minutes. After maceration, the HCl was mopped
up with filter paper; the root tip was then stained
with two drops of Lactic Acetic Orcein and left for
20 minutes. Afterwards, the cells were squashed
gently and evenly spread (Sharma and Sharma,
1999). Only one root was used per slide and five
slides were made from each bulb. The stained
material on the slide was carefully covered with a
cover-slip ensuring that no air was trapped in the
process. The slide was covered with a sheet of
filter paper and pressed down firmly to remove
any excess stain. Good slides were preserved by
sealing them with colorless nail varnish. Each
treatment was done five times to ensure that the
results obtained were consistent.
A recovery test was also conducted in
order to determine whether the effects induced by
treatments with the test substances were
permanent or whether the roots could recover
from the treatment according to Williams and
Omoh (1996). For this test, the onion bulbs with
newly emerging roots of harvestable lengths were
transferred to 0.25M and 0.025M solutions of
both sodium benzoate and sodium metabisulphite
for 3 hours. After exposure for 3 hours with the
test solutions, the onion bulbs were transferred to
tap water and the water changed after 3, 6, 9, and
24 hours. Five slides for each concentration were
made for 6 hours and 24 hours recovery in water.
Another test was set up whereby 30ml of 0.25M
and 0.025M concentration of sodium benzoate
and sodium metabisulphite (the highest and lowest
concentrations) was prepared separately and then
mixed in a 1:1 ratio. Five slides for each
concentration were made for 3 hours, 6 hours, 9
hours and 24 hours.

157

The prepared slides were placed on a Zeiss

light microscope for viewing. Five random fields
were used per slide for recording of mitotic cells
and aberrations. Photomicrographs of some
slides were made under the X40 objective lens or
the X100 objective (oil immersion lens). The
mitotic indices were calculated by dividing the
number of dividing cells per field by the total
number of cells per field and multiplying the
results by 100. The software package: Statistical
Package for Social Scientists (SPSS Version 17)
was used for other data analysis.
RESULTS
The bulbs placed directly on different
concentrations of sodium metabisulphite and
sodium benzoate showed no root germination
even after five days exposure. In the setup with the
initial germination of the onion bulbs in tap water
for 24 hours before their transfer to the different
concentrations used, it was observed that the
roots emerged faster; the germinated roots were
usually robust, upright and with a characteristic
white colour. The roots of bulbs exposed in
0.25M of sodium metabisulphite are however
sticky, staying attached to each other for support
and a loss of the characteristic white colour that
tapers to the root tips. This effect was also
observed in other treatments with higher
concentrations and duration of exposure of
sodium metabisulphite and sodium benzoate. It
was observed that there were decreases in the root
length as the concentrations increased (Table 1).
The Effective Concentration 50 (EC50)
computed by interpolation was found to be
0.085M for sodium metabisulphite and 0.075M
for sodium benzoate. Further analysis using
Spearman's correlation was done and it revealed
that sodium metabisulphite had a negative
correlation with a correlation coefficient of (r = 1.00) that was significantly different at p < 0.05
from its control. Sodium benzoate on the other
hand, also had a negative correlation (r = -0.700)
which was not significantly different (p < 0.05)
from the result of its control.
The food preservatives caused a change in
the frequencies of different mitotic stages. The
mitotic cells

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

158

Table 1: Effect of Different Concentrations of sodium Metabisulphite and Sodium Benzoate on Root
Length of Allium cepa.
Concentration (M)

Mean root length before treatment (cm)

Mean root length after 24 hours

treatment (cm)

Growth in % of control

2.25 + 0.147

Sodium
metabisulphite
100

Sodium benzoate

1.75 + 0.229

Sodium
metabisulphite
1.84 + 0.110

Sodium benzoate

Control (0)

Sodium
metabisulphite
1.55 + 0.092

0.025

1.54 + 0.094

2.11 + 0.180

1.15 + 0.047

1.97 + 0.185

62.50

87.55

0.050

1.78 + 0.186

1.53 + 0.169

1.12 + 0.121

1.29 + 0.136

60.86

57.33

0.100

1.63 + 0.143

1.77 + 0.190

0.90 + 0.159

1.61 + 0.207

48.91

71.55

0.250

1.70 + 0.174

1.85 + 0.192

0.74 + 0.108

1.54 + 0.187

40.21

68.44

Sodium benzoate

100

Table 2. Mitotic Index (MI) of Sodium Metabisulphite(SMB) and Sodium Benzoate (SB) at Different
Concentrations and Durations.
Time
Concentration
(M)

3h

6h

9h

24h

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

0.000

13.228

12.339

13.228

12.339

13.228

12.339

13.228

12.339

0.025

3.112***

8.353

1.961***

8.034

1.259***

3.416*

0.882***

2.131**

0.050

2.061***

8.433

1.329***

4.215*

0.899***

2.078**

0.181***

1.305**

0.100

2.163***

2.311**

1.326***

1.850**

0.419***

1.451**

0***

0.796**

0.250

1.272***

1.363**

0.426***

0.749**

0***

0.170***

0***

0***

The Mitotic Index (MI) decreases in the two test substances, sodium metabisulphite and sodium benzoate as the duration of
treatment and concentrations increases. When MI = 0, this means that at such treatment periods and concentrations, the test
preservative have a toxic effect on the root cells of A. Cepa

Table 3 Frequenccies and the Different Classifications of Abnormal/Aberrant Cells Observed upon
Treatment of A. cepa Root Tips with sodium metabisulphite and sodium benzoate at Different
Concentrations and Durations.
Duration
of
treatment
(Hours)

Concentrations
(M)

Total no of cells
examined
SMB

SB

Clumping

SMB

SB

Bridge

Fragmentation

SMB

SB

SMB

0.000 (Control)

1013

1013

0.025

964

862

10

0.050

825

747

13

0.100

601

649

11

0.250

629

587

14

16

0.025

867

473

11

0.050

752

688

20

12

0.100

528

649

12

10

0.250

469

534

17

0.025

556

644

17

0.050

556

722

19

0.100

477

689

0.250

448

588

0.025

567

0.050

SB

Pulverization

SB

SMB

SB

Lagging

SMB

Erosion

Reduction

Disintegration

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

15

11

10

12

10

15

12

10

14

13

10

14

18

11

24

13

11

12

12

15

11

14

16

20

17

16

18

10

11

15

13

10

30

12

704

14

14

13

11

11

553

613

23

16

32

18

12

26

11

11

0.100

353

628

16

23

15

12

31

14

12

10

19

0.250

479

509

11

22

15

38

20

SMB

Binucleate Cells

SB

24

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

159

Table 4: Mitotic cells, % of Mitotic Stages and Mitotic Index Observed upon 3 hours Treatment of A. cepa
Root Tips with 0.025M and 0.250M Concentrations of sodium metabisulphite and sodium benzoate at
Different Durations of Recovery in Tap Water.
Recovery
time
(Hours)

Concent
r-ation
(M)

Total no of cells
examined
SMB

Total
Mitosis

24

Metaphase

Anaphase

Telophase

% Prophase
SB

% Metaphase
SMB

%Anaphase

SB

SMB

% Telophase

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

1013

1013

134

12
5

60

62

18

24

25

15

31

24

44.78

49.60

13.43

19.20

18.66

12.00

23.13

19.20

0.025

612

635

13

41

21

11

46.15

51.22

7.70

9.76

23.07

12.20

23.07

26.82

0.250

738

701

57.14

60

14.29

28.57

40

0.025

499

572

16

69

25

23

13

43.75

36.23

12.50

11.60

18.75

33.33

25

18.84

0.250

655

868

13

10

46.15

50

15.38

10

23.08

10

15.38

30

0.025

635

743

26

96

12

33

17

22

24

46.15

34.38

7.69

17.70

23.08

22.92

23.08

25

0.250

582

702

20

15

45

46.67

15

6.67

20

6.67

20

40

0.000
(control)
3

Prophase

SB

SMB

SB

Mitotic index
(mean + S. E.)
SMB
13.207
+ 0.681

SB
12.339
+0.475

2.124+
0.305
0.948+
0.151
3.206+
0.418
1.985+
0.224
4.094+
0.367
3.436+
0.461

6.456+
0.538
0.713+
0.145
12.063
+0.837
1.152+
0.173
12.920
+0.901
2.137+
0.255

Table 5: Frequencies and the Different Classifications of Abnormal/Aberrant Cells Observed Upon 3 hours
Treatment of A. cepa Root Tips with 0.025M and 0.250M Concentrations of sodium metabisulphite
and sodium benzoate at Different Durations of Recovery in Tap Water.

Total no of
cells
examined

Clumping

Bridge

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

1013

1013

0.000
(control)
0.025

612

635

0.250
0.025

738
499

701
572

12
10

8
3

0
0

0
0

6
0

3
0

0
0

0
0

0
3

2
1

0
0

24

0.250
0.025

655
635

868
743

8
4

4
1

0
0

0
0

0
0

6
0

0
0

0
0

3
1

0
2

0
0

0.250

582

702

Recovery
time
(Hours)

Concentration
(M)

Fragmentation

Pulverization

Binucleate
cells

Lagging

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

SMB

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

decreased as the concentrations and duration of

treatment increased, with a large number of the
cells in prophase and the least cells at anaphase.
There was decrease in the Mitotic Index as the
concentration and duration of treatment
increased for both test preservatives (Table 2).
This reduction was more intense in sodium
metabisulphite than in sodium benzoate. The
Two-way ANOVA results of the Mitotic Index of
sodium metabisulphite showed that the means of
the Mitotic Index at all concentrations and
treatment times were significantly different (p <
0.001) from the means of the control. Analysis on
the Two-way ANOVA of the Mitotic Index of
sodium benzoate showed that there was no
significant difference between the means of the
control experiment and the means of 0.025M,
0.050M at 3 hours treatment time and 0.025M at 6
hours treatment time. The means were, however,
significantly different (p < 0.05) at concentrations
of 0.050M, 0.025M and at 6 hours and 9 hours
respectively.

SB
0

Erosion

Reduction

Disintegration

SB

SMB

SB

SMB

10

0
0

14
4

7
3

6
0

0
0

10
0

5
0

0
5

7
2

3
0

0
0

0
0

8
3

4
0

SB
0

Different chromosomal abnormalities

were observed on the treatment slides but none
was observed in the control. Some chromosome
aberrations observed were chromosome
clumping, chromosome bridge and chromosome
fragmentation. An extreme type of fragmentation
was also observed and cells in such state are said to
show pulverization, abnormal condensation,
erosion of the chromatin materials and total
disintegration or reduction of the chromosome
structure (Plates 1-4). Sodium metabisulphite was
observed to have induced more aberrations. It was
also observed that, at higher concentrations and
exposure times, the frequencies of clumped,
pulverized and eroded cells increased. The
cytogenetic and toxicity effects of the test
substances depended on their concentration and
duration of exposure to the root tips.

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Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

Plate 1: Aberrations Induced by Sodium Metabisulphite and Sodium Benzoate

A.
Fragmentation at Prophase
B.
Clumping at Anaphase
C.
Abnormal chromatin fragmentation at early Prophase
D.
Enlarged nucleus at Prophase;
E.
Clumping at Metaphase

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

161

E
Plate 2: Aberrations Induced by Sodium Metabisulphite and Sodium Benzoate
A.
Clumping at Metaphase
B.
Clumping at Prometaphase
C.
Intense clumping and fragmentation of chromosomes
D.
Clumping at Anaphase (upper arrow) and fragmentation (lower arrow)
E.
Fragmentation at Prometaphase
F.
Wavy outlines of chromosomes at Prometaphase

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Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

Plate 3: Aberrations induced by Sodium metabisulphite and Sodium benzoate

A. Nuclear outline normal B. Nuclear outline disrupted;
C. Wavy chromosome outlines; D. Normal Prophase

B
A

Plate 4: Aberrations induced by Sodium metabisulphite and Sodium benzoate

A. Clumping at Metaphase B. Binucleate cells C. Clumping and fragmentation at Prophase
D. Cells apparently devoid of chromatin material

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

The mitotic cells observed increased with

the duration of recovery, with a large number of
the cells in Prophase. After the 3 hours initial
treatment in 0.025M of sodium benzoate, and 3
hours recovery in tap water, all the mitotic stages
were observed but at 0.250M of the same 3 hours
recovery time, metaphase and anaphase stages
were not observed. But after the 24 hours recovery
in tap water, the different mitotic stages were
observed for both 0.025M and 0.250M (Table 5).
Mitotic Index frequencies of both sodium
metabisulphite and sodium benzoate increased as
duration of recovery increased. Aberrations were
observed on the recovery tests of both sodium
metabisulphite and sodium benzoate but there was
a decrease in their frequencies as the recovery
times increased from 6 hours to 24 hours.
Results for the number of mitotic cells,
percentage of mitotic cells, Mitotic Index and
frequencies of aberrant cells observed on
combinations of the test substances, sodium
metabisulphite and sodium benzoate, are shown in
Table 4. It was observed that the mitotic Index
decreased as the duration of treatment increased.
At the 3-hour treatment time, clumping,
fragmentation and pulverization were the only
aberrations observed while at the 24-hour
treatment time, more aberrant cells were observed.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:
Plant systems are sensitive biomonitors of
the cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of different
chemicals both in situ and in the laboratory (Grant,
1999). Positive results monitored in higher plant
systems like the Allium assay indicate the presence
of cytotoxic and/or genotoxic attributes of some
compounds. These also indicate the potential for
direct or indirect risks for other living organisms
(Fiskesjo, 1993).
Growth retardation was observed in
onion root tips exposed to high concentrations
and longer duration of treatment for the two
preservatives. Growth inhibition was estimated as
EC50 which is the effective concentration of a
chemical producing 50% of the total effect. The
results obtained from the EC50 (0.075M for sodium
benzoate and 0.085M for sodium metabisulphite)
indicated that sodium metabisulphite was more
toxic than sodium benzoate when tested with A.
cepa using the root length. Neves et al. (2010)
reported that, using soybean, the decrease in root
length may be owing to the enhanced lignin
production that solidifies the cell wall and restricts

163

root growth. Using cinmethylin, a herbicide, it was

reported that inhibited mitotic entry might also be
the cause of growth inhibition in various plants
(El-Deek and Hess, 1986).
The food preservatives used in this study
caused a change in the frequencies of the different
mitotic stages. Sodium metabisulphite and sodium
benzoate increased the percentage of prophase at
the different concentrations and duration of
treatment. This is in agreement with the results
obtained from the works of Rencuzogullari et al.
(2001a) and Turkoglu (2007). However, at 3 hours
exposure of A. cepa in 0.250M of sodium
metabisulphite, telophase had a greater
percentage; this is a deviation from recorded
works and the distribution pattern of the daily
mitotic pattern in A. cepa (Stephens, 1984).
The inhibition of mitotic activities is often
used for tracing cytotoxic substances (Yildiz and
Arikan, 2008). The two food preservatives used in
this study caused a reduction in the Mitotic Index
of Allium cepa. The concentration-dependent
inhibition of the Mitotic Index illustrates the
cytotoxic potentials of Sodium metabisulphite
and Sodium benzoate in A. cepa. Similar effects on
Mitotic Index have been reported by many
researchers following the treatment of Allium cepa
roots with the leaf extracts of Ricinus communis
(George and Geethamma, 1990), Sodium
metabisulphite (Rencuzogullari et al., 2001a) and
Potassuim metabisulphite (Kumar and
Panneerselvam, 2007). Reduction in the mitotic
activity could be due to inhibition of DNA
synthesis which might be caused by the decreasing
ATP level, which is essential for progress of
mitosis and the pressure from the functioning of
the energy production center (Rencuzogullari et
al., 2001a). A decrease in Mitotic Index could also
arise as a result of a blockage at the G2-phase of
the cell cycle, preventing the cell from entering
mitosis.
In this study, nine types of chromosome
aber rations were recorded: clumping,
c h r o m o s o m e b r i d g e s, f r a g m e n t a t i o n ,
pulverization, binucleate cells, lagging, erosion of
chromatin material, reduction in chromosome
size and disintegration of chromosome materials.
The numbers of aberrant cells observed in the
roots treated with different concentrations and
durations of treatment of the test food
preservatives was different from those of the
untreated control as no aberration was observed
in the control. The percentage of aberrations

164

Onyemaobi et al.: Cytogenetic Effects of Two Food Preservatives

increased with increasing concentration and

duration of treatment. There is no single overall
theory which can explain all the aberrations since
they are probably induced through different
mechanisms. There is certainly no doubt that the
depression of energy systems, interference with
DNA synthesis at the S-phase, protein synthesis
and binding/low uptake of Ca2+, Mg2+ and Fe2+
which affects the integrity of the chromosome
may have a role to play in fragmentation,
pulverization and clumping of chromosomes.
Bridges arise from joined ends of broken sister
chromatids while lagging results from failure of
chromosome movement or acentric fragments.
Rencuzogullari et al., (2001a) showed that sodium
metabisulphite caused laggard chromosomes in A.
cepa. Turkoglu (2007) also reported that potassium
sulphite, potassium nitrate, boric acid, citric acid,
potassium citrate and sodium citrate used as food
preservatives caused laggards in A. cepa. The
observation that the number of cells with
aberrations increase with an increase in the
duration of treatment and concentration of the
test substances used, is in agreement with the
results of the experiments by Rencuzogullari
(2001a; b) and Samuel et al. (2010).
Obser vations from the recover y
experiment showed that at the concentrations of
sodium metabisulphite and sodium benzoate used,
the longer the period spent in water after 3 hours
pretreatment with the different test substances,
the greater the recovery of the cells from the
effects induced in them. More dividing cells and
fewer cells with aberrations were observed at the
end of the 24 hours recovery test period than there
were at the 3 hours duration of treatment.
According to Luck et al. (1997), a combination of
sorbic acid and benzoic acid inhibited a number of
bacteria strains better than either sorbic acid or
benzoic acid alone. Harrington and Hills (1966)
also reported that combining sorbic acid and
diethyl pyrocarbonate produced an increased
antimicrobial action. The latter named
preservative ensured that the germs present are
killed rapidly while the sorbic acid provides
protection against re-infection. It is assumed that
because of the advantages mentioned above, a
combination of sodium metabisulphite and
sodium benzoate is used as an antimicrobial and
antioxidant preservatives especially in fruit juices
(Luck et al., 1997).
Research with other test systems has given
useful information on the toxicity of sodium
metabisulphite (Rencuzogullari et al., 2001a) but

more work is required on sodium benzoate to see

if the results obtained from the Allium assay
correlates with that of other test systems. Further
work is needed to determine the effects of food
preservatives when combined with other food
preservatives. When this is done a recommended
standard could also be obtained when food
preservatives are combined in other to reduce any
detrimental effects on consumers. The result of
investigation support the banning of these two
chemicals as food preservatives.
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