Industrial Crops and Products 83 (2016) 379–386 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Industrial Crops and Products jo ur nal home p age: www.elsevier.com/locate/indcrop Comparative analytical characterization and in vitro cytogenotoxic activity evaluation of Asplenium scolopendrium L. leaves and rhizome extracts prior to and after Ag nanoparticles phytosynthesis Nicoleta Anca S ¸ ut ¸an a , Irina Fier˘ ascu b , Radu Claudiu Fier˘ ascu b,∗ , Denisa S ¸ tefania Manolescu a , Liliana Cristina Soare a a University of Pites ¸ ti, Faculty of Science, Department of Natural Sciences, 1 Targu din Vale Str., 110040 Pitesti, Romania b The National Institute for Chemistry and Petrochemistry-ICECHIM, 202 Spl. Independentei, 060021 Bucharest, Romania a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 31 August 2015 Received in revised form 24 December 2015 Accepted 9 January 2016 Available online 25 January 2016 Keywords: Extracts Nanoparticles Phytosynthesis EDXRF UV–vis Cytogenotoxicity a b s t r a c t In this study, we tested the ability of ethanolic extracts of mature leaves and rhizomes of Asplenium scolopendrium L. to synthesize Ag nanoparticles in vitro, and the genotoxic effects of the extracts on the root apexes of Allium cepa were assessed. The roots with a length of 0.5–1 cm were exposed to the action of extracts before and after the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles, for 6, 12 and 24 h. The chemical composition of the extract was evaluated by means of spectroscopic analytical techniques. After the synthesis of the Ag nanoparticles a slight increase was noticed in the antioxidant activity of the extracts. The mito-stimulating effect of the extracts obtained from the leaves, and respectively the mito-inhibiting effect of the extracts from the rhizome, was augmented by the synthesis of Ag nanoparticles, which was associated with an increase in variability and frequency of chromosome aberrations. To our knowledge, this is the first study to have shown the ability of ethanolic extracts of mature leaves and rhizomes of A. scolopendrium L. to phytosynthesize Ag nanoparticles in vitro, and has revealed the comparative chemical composition and the cytogenotoxic potential of the extracts. The present study highlights the need for continuous evaluation of plant resources, and is intended to help in accumulate knowledge for a natural therapy that meets the health care needs. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since very ancient times plants have been an integral part of human life. The most solid evidence supporting the benefits of plants is healthy food and the primacy of traditional medicine (or herbal medicine). Whether fresh or dried, whether coming as tablets, poultices, tinctures or various extracts, plants have consis- tently demonstrated their curative effects. Despite a lower popularity of the usefulness and effectiveness of ferns in certain regions of the world, they are among the most use- ful primitive vascular plants. Eating ferns as healthy, delicious and highly nutritious food (Shin, 2010; Chai et al., 2012; Matsuura et al., 2014), their antioxidant effect (Chai et al., 2012), their antimicro- bial effect (Banerjee and Sen, 1980; Dalli et al., 2007; Soare et al., 2012; Nayak et al., 2013; Chai et al., 2013), their antiadipogenic and anti-inflammatory effect (Yonathan et al., 2006; Lamichhane ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: radu claudiu fierascu@yahoo.com (R.C. Fier˘ ascu). et al., 2014), their antitumor effect (Sukumaran and Kuttan, 1991; Lai et al., 2010), and their natural anti-HIV effect (Mizushina et al., 1998), as well as the intense activity of air purification by removing volatile formaldehydes, are some of the benefits of ferns (Lee and Shin, 2011). Ferns contain numerous useful chemical compounds, such as flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, phenols, triterpenoids, which made them useful in the treatment of ascariasis, diarrhea, skin burns and skin diseases, fever, and they can also be used as abortifacients and contraceptives (Darnaedi and Praptosuwiryo, 2003), etc. On the other hand, in medicine and cosmetics industry, and not only there, many products containing nanomaterials are widely used (Handy et al., 2008; Klain et al., 2008). The rapid devel- opment of nanotechnology industry over the last decade (Roco, 2005), attracted both the initiation of numerous studies and researches on the impact and toxicity of direct or indirect expo- sure to nano-particles, as well as testing the therapeutic potential of nanoparticles (Yezhelyev et al., 2006; Brayner, 2008; Satyavani et al., 2012). Moreover, the use of plant extracts and herbal cul- tures is regarded as the most simple and convenient method for the http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2016.01.011 0926-6690/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.