T: Toxicology & Chemical Food Safety Genotoxicity Evaluation of Moringa oleifera Seed Extract and Lectin Luc´ ıola A.D.M.M. Rolim, M´ arcia F.S. Macˆ edo, Herbert Ary Sisenando, Thiago H. Napole˜ ao, Israel Felzenszwalb, Claudia A. F. Aiub, Luana C.B.B. Coelho, Silvia R.B. Medeiros, and Patr´ ıcia M.G. Paiva Abstract: This article reports the genotoxicity assessment of an extract of M. oleifera seed powder and the water-soluble Moringa oleifera lectin (WSMoL) isolated from seeds. The lectin isolated by chitin chromatography showed hemaggluti- nating activity with different erythrocytes, activity in a broad pH range (4.5 to 9.5), and retention of hemagglutinating activity after being heated to 100 ◦ C. Genotoxicity of the seed extract and WSMoL were assessed using the cell-free plasmid DNA as well as the Salmonella typhimurium (Ames and Kado) assays with TA97, TA98, TA100, and TA102 in the presence or absence of hepatic metabolization. Seed extract at concentration (0.2 μg/μL) recommended to treat water was not genotoxic by Ames, Kado, and cell-free plasmid DNA assays. S. typhimurium strains showed to be sensitive to M. oleifera extract revealing a mutagenic effect at doses higher than 0.6 μg/μL with hepatic metabolization. The extract at doses higher than 0.4 μg/μL, without hepatic metabolization, was mutagenic for TA100 and TA102. WSMoL was nonmutagenic by used assays. The use of high concentrations of the extract may pose a risk to human health and the safe use of M. oleifera seed powder to treat water for human consumption requires more study; however, the purified lectin could be an alternative for water treatment. Keywords: genotoxicity, lectin, Moringa oleifera, seed extract Practical Application: The concentration 0.2 μg/μL of M. oleifera seed extract recommended to treat water for humans did not pose a risk to human health. The mutagenicity detected at concentrations higher than 0.4 μg/μL was not due to WSMoL, lectin isolated from extract. Introduction Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) seeds are widely used in developing countries as a natural coagulant to treat water for hu- man consumption. The coagulant property of M. oleifera has been attributed to different seed compounds including organic polyelec- trolyte of 3 kDa (Okuda and others 2001) and cationic proteins with molecular mass of 6.5 to 13 kDa with isoelectric points in the range of 9.6 to 11 (Gassenschmidt and others 1995; Ndabi- gengesere and others 1995; Ghebremichael and others 2005). Several biological properties have been attributed to M. oleifera seeds including chemo-preventive action in chemical carcinogen- esis as well as antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activities (C´ aceres and others 1991; Guevara and others 1999; Santos and others 2005; Chuang and others 2007). M. oleifera seed powder dissolved in water has been used as medicine for treatment of up- per respiratory tract infection and a study has been conducted to investigate the efficacy and safety of M. oleifera seed kernels in the MS 20100754 Submitted 7/5/2010, Accepted 11/4/2010. Authors Rolim, Napole˜ ao, Coelho, and Paiva are with Lab. de Glicoprote´ ınas, Dept. de Bioqu´ ımica, Centro de Ciˆ encias Biol´ ogicas, Univ. Federal de Pernambuco, Avenida Prof. Moraes Rego, S/N, Cidade Univ., Recife-PE, Brazil. Authors Macˆ edo and Medeiros are with Lab. de Biologia Molecular e Genˆ omica, Centro de Ciˆ encias Biol´ ogicas, Univ. Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal-RN, Brazil. Author Sisenando is with Lab. de Tox- icologia, Dept. de Patologia, Univ. Federal Fluminense, Niter´ oi-RJ, Brazil. Authors Felzenszwalb and Aiub are with Dept. de Biof´ ısica e Biometria, Inst. de Biologia Roberto Alcˆ antara Gomes, Univ. do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil. Direct inquiries to author Paiva (E-mail: ppaivaufpe@yahoo.com.br). treatment of bronchial asthma. Seed powder (3 g for 3 wk) was ad- ministrated to 20 patients with mild-to-moderate asthma and the researchers observed a significant antiasthmatic effect; however, pa- tients showed changes in hematological parameters, as increasing in hemoglobin values and reduction in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (Agrawal and Metha 2008). Plant compounds can be harmful to human health, with toxic effects and damage to genetic material, inducing mutagenesis or carcinogenesis (Carvalho and others 2003; Gazda and others 2006; Santos and others 2006). Genotoxic effects have been reported in vegetable extracts, and the evaluation of cytotoxic, genotoxic, or mutagenic effects of plant compounds could minimize the possible risks of these agents to human health. Toxicity of an M. oleifera preparation equivalent to 0.2 g/L of cotyledon powder was detected in the fish Poecilia reticulata, the protozoon Tetrahy- mena pyriformis, and the bacterium E. coli, whereas Salmonella mutagenicity assays yielded negative results for extracts repre- senting the equivalent of up to 1 g/L raw seeds (Grabow and others 1985). The micronucleus assay, using albino mice, showed that the compounds 4(α-L-rhamnosyloxy) phenylacetonitrile, 4- hydroxyphenylacetonitrile, and 4-hydroxyphenyl-acetamide iso- lated from roasted M. oleifera seeds exhibited mutagenic activity (Villasenor and others 1989). M. oleifera seeds, with high nutritional value, are eaten in Malaya and Zimbabwe as vegetables and have been recommended for nu- trient complementation (Burkill 1966; Maroyi 2006). Makkar and Becker (1997), studying antinutritional factors in M. oleifera, de- tected hemagglutinating activity in seed meal (fat-free kernel), C  2011 Institute of Food Technologists R  doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01990.x Vol. 76, Nr. 2, 2011  Journal of Food Science T53 Further reproduction without permission is prohibited