Bioactivity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of leaves and flowers Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi on plant bioindicator

Abstract

Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolia Raddi) is a species native to South America, widely distributed along the Brazilian coast and has been evaluated for its biological activities, but its use requires caution due to its toxicity. In this context, the objective of this work was to evaluate the physiological, phytotoxic, cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of ethanolic and aqueous extract of leaves and flowers of of Brazilian pipper on lettuce vegetable bioindicator. Plant bioindicators have advantages such as low cost, sensitivity and reproducibility. For the bioassay 5 repetitions of 50 lettuce seeds were used for each concentration of the different extracts (5 mg×mL^-1, 10 mg×mL^-1, 20 mg×mL^-1, 40 mg×mL^-1) and distilled water as a negative control. To analyzethe allelopathic and phytotoxic effect, the variables wereinitial and final germination, shoot and root length. For analysis of the cytotoxic and genotoxic effect, slides with meristematic cells were prepared using the crushing technique, stained with acetic orcein and analyzed under an optical microscope using the scanning technique, counting 5000 cells/treatment. The mitotic index (MI) was calculated by evaluating cells at different stages of mitosis and the chromosomal abnormality index (CAI) in actively dividing cells. Allelopathic, phytotoxic and cytotoxic activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of leaves and flowers of Brazilian pepper was observed at the highest concentrations (20 and 40 mg×mL^-1) and genotoxic activity of ethanolic extracts of leaves and flowers at a concentration of 20 mg×mL^-1. It is concluded that these extracts have potential for studies to apply in agriculture.