Productivity, Stability and Anti-Recombinagenic Activity of Cassia fistula Pods Pulp Extract as a Source of Natural Food Color

Abstract

This study aims to take advantage of the aqueous extract of Cassia fistula pods pulp, which is used in folk medicine, in order to obtain a higher extractive value under different conditions of temperatures and pHs. The extract obtained from the significant highest extraction trials was subjected to test its stability under different conditions of temperatures and pHs. Thermal stability and brown substance determination on extracts were also studied. The mutagenic, recombinagenic, carcinogenic and anticarcinogenic potential of Cassia fistula pods extract was assessed using the epithelial tumor detection test (wts) in D. melanogaster. Results of the study showed that the highest extractive value was 67.47% at 90°C, pH 7 for 20 min. The extract exhibited high stability at different temperatures and pHs and in particular on the neutral and alkaline pH as well as high temperatures. Generally, the extract showed a significant high time and thermal stability at 80 and 90°C with the increase of extraction time at pH 7 or 9. The significant highest brown substance units after extraction for 30 min were at 90, 80 and 60°C. Studies on the effect of extracts on the genetic toxicology showed that descendants treated with extracts did not show any statistically significant changes in the frequency of tumors when compared to the negative control. Therefore, the results indicate that the C. fistula extracts, under the present experimental conditions, did not induce the occurrence of tumors in D. melanogaster.