Assessment of Cytotoxicity Induced by Calcium Carbide (Fruit Ripening Agent) on Allium Cepa L. (Onion) Root Meristematic Cells

Alege G.O.¹ , Anthony W²

Section:Research Paper, Product Type: Journal-Paper
Vol.7 , Issue.2 , pp.170-175, Apr-2020

Online published on Apr 30, 2020

Copyright © Alege G.O. , Anthony W . This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
 

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Abstract :
This study was carried out to evaluate the cytotoxic potential of Calcium carbide (CaC2) on Onion (Allium cepa L.) root tip cells. To achieve this goal, root tips of Allium cepa were grown in different concentrations of Calcium carbide (CaC2) (0.25g, 0.50g, 0.75g and 1.00g)/ 250 ml and distilled water was used as control for the study. Root tips of Allium cepa grown in the treatments and control were harvested daily between 7:30am and 8:30am for cytological studies. Pretreatment, fixation, hydrolysis, squashing and staining of cells for mitotic study were carried out and data were taken on cytological parameters under X400 magnification of the light microscope. Data obtained on these parameters were analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) while means with significant different across concentration were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT). Results obtained in this study showed that Calcium carbide (CaC2) significantly induces binucleate cells, vacuolated cells, sticky chromosomes, C-mitosis cells and Anaphase Bridge across the different concentrations which indicates mutagenic and cytotoxic activities of the chemical. The higher Relative Mutation Rate (RMR) and Relative Division Rate (RDR) in relation to the control observed at higher concentrations (i.e. 0.75g and 1.00g) suggests stimulatory effects of Calcium carbide (CaC2). These findings indicated that Calcium carbide (CaC2) is mutagenic and cytotoxic to Allium cepa dividing cells and may not be a safe chemical for use as fruit ripening agent. We therefore recommended that the use of Calcium carbide (CaC2) for fruit ripening should be discouraged while use of safer ripening agents should be encouraged.

Key-Words / Index Term :
Allium cepa, Calcium carbide (CaC2), Cytotoxic, Mutagenic, Stimulatory

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