Anti-genotoxic potential of Gentiana lutea extracts against the food sweetener saccharin

Sweeteners are now an integral part of the food industry. Despite its long history of use, saccharin has been in the spotlight for many reasons including toxicity, cancerogenicity and other health issues. Because of this, it is necessary to find natural supplements that could reduce the negative effect of this sweetener. The aim of the study was to investigate the potential anti-genotoxic effect of Gentiana lutea plant extracts against saccharin-induced genotoxicity. G. lutea is widely used in traditional medicine and in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The anti-genotoxicity of root and leaf 50% aqueous-ethanolic extracts was tested on normal human fetal fibroblasts (MRC-5) and human hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2) using the comet assay. G. lutea extracts significantly reduced the genotoxic effect of saccharin at all tested concentrations. The results obtained in this study indicate the strong protective effect of G. lutea against saccharin-induced DNA damage and encourage further studies in order to use this plant as a source of natural food supplements.