Abstract :Abstract
The genotoxic effects of leaf and root extracts of Elephantopus scaber, root extracts of Salvia miltiorrhiza and Glycyrrhiza uralensis on the mitotic cells in Allium cepa root tips were studied. The crude extracts of 1 µg/ml, 50 µg/ml, 500 µg/ml and 1000 µg/ml were tested on root meristems of A. cepa. Quercetin was used as positive control and distilled water as negative control. The result showed that mitotic index decreased as the concentrations of crude extracts increased. The increase of the genotoxic effect corresponds to a decrease of mitotic activity. A dose-dependent increase of chromosome aberrations was observed. Abnormalities scored were stickiness, c-mitosis, bridges and vagrant chromosomes. Result of this study confirmed that the methanol leaf extracts of E.scaber exerted significant genotoxic effects followed by methanol root extracts of S. miltiorrhiza at 1000 µg/ml respectively.