Onion is one of the civilization’s oldest medicines and is described as the dynamite of natural foods. In the current day scenario, herbal medicines have gained global significance with both medicinal and cost-effective implications. Thus, scientific appraisal has turned out to be a prerequisite for recognition of physical fitness in nature. An exceptionally strong antioxidant, onion is the ric...

Onion, Allium cepa L. (Asparagales: Amaryllidaceae), crop fields grown for seed production require arthropod pollination for adequate seed yield. Although many arthropod species visit A. cepa flowers, for most there is little information on their role as pollinators. Small flower visiting arthropods (body width < 3 mm) in particular are rarely assessed. A survey of eight flowering commercial A....

Disinfection of surface drinking water, particularly water chlorination, produces by-products with potential genotoxic and/or carcinogenic activity. A study carried out at a pilot plant for drinking water disinfection of lake water revealed mutagenic activity of three different disinfectants (sodium hypochlorite, chlorine dioxide and peracetic acid) in different seasons using in situ mutagenici...

The genotoxic potential of the commercial herbicide Illoxan (containing 284 g/L diclofop-methyl) was determined by using chromosome aberrations in Allium cepa root tip cells. The EC50 value was determined as 150.00 mg/L using a root growth inhibition test and then the roots were treated with 37.50, 75.00, and 150.00 mg/L concentrations for 12, 24, and 48 h. The results indicated that Illoxan si...

Pesticides constitute a heterogeneous category of chemicals specifically designed for the control of pests, weeds or plant diseases. Pesticides have been considered potential chemical mutagens. In the present study, the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of the commercial herbicide Topik (containing 80g/L clodinafop-propargyl and 20 g/l cloquintocet-mexyl) was determined using Allium cepa root t...

The potential genotoxic effects of methanolic extracts of Euphorbia hirta which is commonly used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseased conditions including asthma, coughs, diarrhea and dysentery was investigated using Allium cepa assay. The extracts of 125, 250, 500 and 1,000 µg/mL were tested on root meristems of A. cepa. Ethylmethanesulfonate was used as positive control and ...

The present study evaluates the genotoxic potential of different soil samples collected from rice fields employing Allium cepa root chromosomal aberration assay using in situ and root dip modes of treatment. The study also involves assessment of oxidative stress by analyzing responses of certain antioxidative enzymes viz. catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), g...

In the course of searching for new whitening agents, we have found that the methanol extract of dried skin of Allium cepa shows potent melanin biosynthesis inhibitory activity in B16 melanoma cells. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of quercetin-3'-O-beta-D-glucoside (1) from the methanol extract of dried skin of A. cepa, which inhibited melanin formation in B16 melanoma cells ...