Ginseng extract exhibits antimutagenic activity against induced mutagenesis in various strains of Salmonella typhimurium

摘要

Ginseng has been reported to exhibit antioxidant and antimutagenic activity. The present study was undertaken with aview to confirm whether the antioxidant activity of Ginseng is responsible for its antimutagenic action. The concentratedroot extract of Panax ginseng (Ginseng extract I) and its lyophilized powder (Ginseng extract II) obtained from two differentmanufacturing houses, were tested against mutagenesis using the well-standardized Ames microsomal test system. Theextracts exhibited antimutagenic effect against hydrogen peroxide induced mutagenesis in TA100 strain, and againstmutagenesis produced by 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide in both TA98 and TA100 strains of Salmonella typhimurium. Both theextracts failed to show any antimutagenic potential against tert-butyl hydroperoxide (an oxidative mutagen) in TA102 strain,a strain highly sensitive to active oxygen species. The extracts also indicated a weak antioxidant activity in a series of invitro test systems viz., 1,1-diphenyl picryl hydrazyl (DPPH) assay, hydrogen peroxide scavenging and superoxide anionscavenging. The results indicate that the protective effects shown by ginseng extract(s) against 4-nitroquinoline-n-oxide andhydrogen peroxide induced mutagenesis in TA98 and TA100 could mainly be due to its property to initiate and promoteDNA repair rather than free radical scavenging action.