The genotoxicity of bloom head (BHE) and leaf (LE) extracts from artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), and their ability to modulate the mutagenicity and recombinogenicity of two alkylating agents (ethyl methanesulfonate - EMS and mitomycin C - MMC) and the intercalating agent bleomycin (BLM), were examined using the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster. Neither the mutagenicity nor the recombinogenicity of BLM or MMC was modified by co- or post-treatment with BHE or LE. In contrast, co-treatment with BHE significantly enhanced the EMS-induced genotoxicity involving mutagenic and/or recombinant events. Co-treatment with LE did not alter the genotoxicity of EMS whereas post-treatment with the highest dose of LE significantly increased this genotoxicity. This enhancement included a synergistic increase restricted to somatic recombination. These results show that artichoke extracts promote homologous recombination in proliferative cells of D. melanogaster.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o teor de quercetina obtido dos extratos de partes aéreas de Baccharis articulata (Lam.) Pers., Asteraceae, submetidas a diferentes técnicas de secagem, bem como a avaliação de sua atividade antioxidante in vitro. Foi verificada maior concentração deste flavonoide nas amostras secas em estufa, porém não houve diferença significativa na atividade farmacológica das amostras analisadas.

The objective of this work was to verify the influence of different drying processes on the levels of quercetin of the aerial parts of Baccharis articulata (Lam.) Pers., Asteraceae, as well as the evaluation of the in vitro antioxidant activity of these extracts. We demonstrated that the highest concentration of this flavonoid was detected in oven-dried samples, although there no significant difference in their pharmacological activity of all analyzed samples could be shown.