Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Nucleus https://doi.org/10.1007/s13237-020-00309-0 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Screening of rhizomes of Rheum emodi Wall. Ex. Meissen for antimutagenic potential employing Ames assay Anjana Bhatia 1  · Saroj Arora 2  · Avinash Nagpal 2  · Bikram Singh 3 Received: 1 July 2019 / Accepted: 28 January 2020 © Archana Sharma Foundation of Calcutta 2020 Abstract Rheum emodi Wall. Ex. Meissen is an important food and medicinal plant growing wild in western Himalayas. The current endeavor was undertaken to carry out bioassay guided fractionation and isolation of antimutagenic principle(s) present in the rhizomes of Rheum emodi. The antimutagenicity assay was performed to check the recuperating efect of 80% aqueous methanol extract of rhizomes of R. emodi and its fractions i.e. n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water fractions, against 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine (NPD), sodium azide, and 2AF-induced mutagenicity in TA98 and TA100 strains using the Ames Salmonella his + reversion assay. The crude 80% aqueous methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction exhibited strong antimutagenicity. The antimutagenic potential of the extracts and fractions was markedly enhanced when indirect acting mutagen was used in both the tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium. In an efort to identify the molecules responsible for the antimutagenic efect displayed by R. emodi, four anthraquinones i.e. aloe-emodin, chrysophanol, emodin and rhein detected in the ethyl acetate fraction by HPLC analysis were also tested for their antimutagenic potential in both the tester strains. It was found that the anthraquinones in their pure form showed lower antimutagenicity than the mother fraction from which they were isolated. The results point towards a synergistic efect of the principles present in the mother fraction. Keywords Antimutagenicity · 2-Aminofuorene · Anthraquinones · Aloe-emodin · Chrysophanol · Emodin · Rhein · Rheum emodi · Salmonella typhimurium · Ames assay Introduction Methodical studies concerning fora employed in folk med- ication and their efect on individual vigor or on genetic material has been the theme of numerous diverse kinds of explorations. Such conventional plants are rapidly becoming natural resources of antimutagens acting as strong cancer chemoprevention agents. Indian Himalayas are a storehouse of the herbs with a long and proven medicinal history. Rheum emodi Wallich Ex Meissen “Dholu”, family Polygonaceae, is a large herb, about 0.7–2 m tall with stout rhizomes and root. It is used against boils, wounds and cuts. Young shoots are used as pickle and also for dyeing the woolen clothes. Rhizome is also used for curing constipation, providing help in diabetes and removing kidney stones [4, 8, 14, 22, 27, 33]. Traditionally known to have inexplicable therapeutic pow- ers, Rheum or rhubarb turned up as an international cookery obsession during the nineteenth and twentieth century. The history of rhubarb (Rheum) dates back to primeval China and the Mediterranean region as a well-liked laxative drug and all-purpose tonic. Rheum emodi is known to amass many medicinally important secondary metabolites. The active ingredients present in the rhizomes of R. emodi are aloe- emodin, chrysophanol, chrysophanol glycoside, emodin, physcion and rhein [8]. They belong to anthraquinones, a group of more than 170 natural compounds that make up the largest group of natural quinones [16, 19, 24]. In view * Anjana Bhatia bh_anju@yahoo.co.in Saroj Arora sarojarora.gndu@gmail.com Avinash Nagpal avnagpal@redifmail.com Bikram Singh bikram_npp@redifmail.com 1 PG Department of Botany, Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya, Jalandhar, India 2 Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India 3 Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, India