Adverse effects of the toxic industrial dye malachite green on the antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of Allium cepa L.

Soumyajit Biswas ,Piyali Basak,N K Banerjee

doi:10.14719/pst.1339

Abstract

The therapeutic importance of Allium cepa L. has been well established through ethnobotanical studies. Malachite Green is a highly toxic dye that finds extensive use in the textile industry as a fabric colorant. A. cepa was treated with malachite green solutions (20mg/l and 40mg/l) for 45 days. The roots actively take up malachite green and impede the plant's growth in root length, shoot length and fresh weight. A. cepa is rich in bioactive compounds, which have superior antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. We observe that the antimicrobial activities decrease by 36% for Staphylococcus aureus and 31% for Escherichia coli on the treatment of A. cepa bulbs with 40 mg/l malachite green. Antioxidant activity was similarly lowered by 61% under the toxic effects of the dye. Reduction in the efficacy of A. cepa in terms of the critical medicinal properties and general retardation in growth is a cause of concern. This article reports a previously unknown aspect of malachite green toxicity and presents the effect of any dye on the medicinal properties of A. cepa for the first time.

Highlights

Malachite Green is a triarylmethane dye with a complex molecular structure with aromatic rings, making it a prominent recalcitrant toxicant
We tested the effect of Malachite Green on A. cepa for a few essential parameters like root length, shoot length, biomass, antioxidant and anti
10 g of A. cepa bulb grown in distilled water and malachite green solutions (40 mg/l and 20 mg/l) were washed thoroughly and macerated in 80% (v/v) ethanol for 72 hr at 37 oC

Summary

Introduction

Malachite Green is a triarylmethane dye with a complex molecular structure with aromatic rings, making it a prominent recalcitrant toxicant. It is associated with a plethora of health risks. Several toxicological studies on the dye have shown that malachite green can cause severe irritation to test animals' eyes and mucous membranes [2] and has been reported as a mutagen [3]. There are several reports of the red onion A. cepa having antibacterial effects on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [7, 8] and some fungi [9,10,11]. We tested the effect of Malachite Green on A. cepa for a few essential parameters like root length, shoot length, biomass, antioxidant and anti-

Materials and Methods

Results and Discussion

Conclusion