Genotoxic and antiproliferative effect of Alpinia zerumbet (Zingiberaceae) essential oil in Allium cepa biotest

The species Alpinia zerumbet popularly known as colony is quite abundant in northeastern Brazil and is widely used for medicinal purposes, due to its hypotensive and cardiovascular effect, without, however, due scientific evidence. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the genotoxic and antiproliferative effect of A. zerumbet essential oil, in test systems with Allium cepa. The chemical composition of the essential oil was determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antiproliferative and genotoxic effect was tested in seven treatments with three replications, and five concentrations of essential oil (0.01 to 1.0%) using onion bulbs. Two roots were analyzed from each bulb, with a count of 500 cells per slide/root, totaling 3,000 cells per treatment. The results showed that the main chemical constituents of the essential oil were 1.8 cineole (60.50%) and terpinen-4-ol (23.80%). In the assays with A. cepa, both the mitotic index (MI) and the cellular alteration percentages differed significantly in relation to the control, through the appearance of chromosomal and nuclear aberrations at the concentrations tested, revealing possible harmful effects to human health.