Cytotoxicity of Sunset Yellow and Brilliant Blue food dyes in a plant test system

Abstract

Dyes used in the food industry are an important class of food additives and are often used to make processed food more visually appealing, especially to children. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of Sunset Yellow (SY) and Brilliant Blue (BB) food dyes on the root meristematic cells of Allium cepa L. The root tip cells of onion were exposed to aqueous solutions of dye in concentration of 50 ppm, 100 ppm and 200 ppm, respectively 150 ppm, 300 ppm and 600 ppm BB for 24 hours, at room temperature. Cytogenetic tests reveal a decrease of the mitotic index and an increase of various chromosomal aberrations following food dyes treatments, in a concentration-dependent manner. Types of chromosomal aberrations were varied; thus, were observed cells with irregular kinetics of chromosomes, ring chromosomes, laggards, sticky chromosomes and micronuclei. Exposure of onion roots tips to both food dyes showed a large number of cells in prophase and low number of cells in anaphase, regardless of dyes concentration. The obtained results suggest caution in the consumption of foods that contain these two types of dyes and finding healthier alternatives for food coloring.