Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm Ethnomedicinal survey and mutagenic studies of plants used in Accra metropolis, Ghana Emelia Oppong Bekoe a,* , Christian Agyare b , Yaw Duah Boakye b , Benedict Mbeah Baiden c , Alex Asase d , Joseph Sarkodie a , Henry Nettey e , Francis Adu b , Priscilla Boatema Otu a , Benjamin Agyarkwa a , Patrick Amoateng f , Isaac Asiedu-Gyekye f , Alexander Nyarko f a Department of Pharmacognosy and Herbal Medicine, School of Pharmacy, University of Ghana, P.O Box LG 43, Legon, Accra, Ghana b Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana c Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 115, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana d Department of Plant and Environmental Science, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG55, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana e Department of Pharmaceutics and Microbiology, University of Ghana, P.O Box LG 43, Legon, Accra, Ghana f Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Ghana, P.O Box LG 43, Legon, Accra, Ghana ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Ethnomedicinal survey Herbal medicines Medicinal plants Herbalists Herbal dealers Mutagenicity ABSTRACT Ethnopharmacological relevance: Majority of people living in Ghana and many other developing countries rely on traditional medicinal plants for their primary healthcare. These plants are used either alone or in combination to manage a wide range of ailments. However, most of these plants have not been investigated for their mutagenic effects. Aim of the study: This study, therefore aimed at evaluating the mutagenic activity of the most frequently used medicinal plants amongst Ghanaians living within the Accra metropolis, Ghana. Materials and methods: Validated questionnaires were administered to 53 herbalists and herbal medicines dealers in the Makola, Madina and Nima communities. Plants that were identified as being frequently used were in- vestigated for their mutagenicity using the Ames test. Results: A total of 110 medicinal plants belonging to 53 families were identified as most frequently used plants in the study sites. These are used to treat various ailments including gastric ulcer, fever, malaria, male impotence, diabetes, typhoid, high blood pressure and candidiasis. Thirteen samples (52%) showed moderate to high mu- tagenicity in the TA 100 bacterial strain before and after metabolism with rat liver enzyme. Conclusions: The study showed that over half of the frequently used medicinal plants showed moderate to high mutagenicity before and after metabolism at the concentration of a 100 μg/mL. This may have implications for the safety of those who use them to manage diseases. These findings will suggest the need for an in-depth study of the mutagenic potentials of plants commonly used by indigenous people and more especially for those ex- hibiting high mutagenicity in this study. 1. Introduction In Ghana, it is estimated that 951 tons of crude plant medicines are sold annually on the domestic market (van Andel et al., 2012). About 70% of the population rely on herbal medicines for their primary healthcare (Yarney et al., 2013). It is generally believed that these herbal medicines have the advantages of being natural, with less side effects, safer, cheaper, more effective and more readily available com- pared to orthodox medicines (Agyare et al., 2009; Calixto, 2000; Firenzuoli and Gori, 2007; Kamboj, 2000; Kaur et al., 2013). These advantages have accounted for the increased patronization of herbal medicinal plants in most developing countries including Ghana (Calixto, 2000). With the increased usage have come important safety concerns. For example, the consistent increase in cancer cases in Ghana https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2019.112309 Received 28 November 2018; Received in revised form 22 July 2019; Accepted 13 October 2019 Abbreviations: F IC , The informant consensus factor; BP, base pair; PM, point mutation; FSM, frame shift mutations * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: eoppongbekoe@ug.edu.gh (E. Oppong Bekoe), chrisagyare@yahoo.com (C. Agyare), yawduahb@gmail.com (Y.D. Boakye), mbeahbaiden@gmail.com (B.M. Baiden), alexasase@gmail.com (A. Asase), joseph_sarkodie@yahoo.com (J. Sarkodie), hnettey@msn.com (H. Nettey), franceadu@yahoo.com (F. Adu), pboatemoatu98@yahoo.com (P.B. Otu), benjaminagyarkwa@yahoo.co.uk (B. Agyarkwa), patamo@yahoo.com (P. Amoateng), asiedugyekye@yahoo.com (I. Asiedu-Gyekye), akn115@yahoo.com (A. Nyarko). Journal of Ethnopharmacology xxx (xxxx) xxxx 0378-8741/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V. Please cite this article as: Emelia Oppong Bekoe, et al., Journal of Ethnopharmacology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2019.112309