Determination of antimutagenic properties of Rosmarinic acid, a phenolic compound isolated from Mentha longifolia ssp longifolia with yeast DEL assay

Genus Mentha is a well-known species that has a variety of biological properties and abundantly available throughout temperate regions. Member of Mentha genus have been used as a folk remedy for treatment of nausea, ulcerative colitis and liver complaints due to its anti-inflammatory, carminative, stimulant and antioxidant activities. This study was designed to evaluate mutagenic and anti-mutagenic activities of rosmarinic acid (RA), a phenolic compound isolated from Mentha longifolia ssp. longifolia. The possible anti-mutagenic potential of RA was examined against mutagens ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and acridine (AC) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae RS112. According to our findings, only one concentration of RA showed a mutagenic effect in the highest concentrations used. The lower concentrations of RA significantly inhibited EMS and AC-induced mutations. The highest inhibition rates in yeast DEL assay ranged from 10 % (4 mu M/ml concentration in EMS-induced DEL events) to 63.3 % (2 mu M/ml concentration in AC-induced DEL events). This study suggests that the phenolic compound, RA can possess mutagenic effect in high doses. While this plant is used commonly, the amount of phenolics in food supplementation has to be well adjusted for their efficient dose and safety. Moreover, the antimutagenic/anticarcinogenic properties of RA observed in this study are of great pharmacological importance, and might be beneficial for phytotherapeutic drug discovery and development.