SUNSET YELLOW AND TARTRAZINE BLEND – INDUCED BEHAVIORAL AND NEUROCHEMICAL DEFICITS IN FRUIT FLIES (Drosophila melanogaster): PROTECTIVE EFFECT OF GALLIC AND P-HYDROXYBENZOIC ACIDS

• A. O. Ademiluyi

  Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology. Akure 340252, Nigeria

  Author

Application of synthetic azo dyes such as sunset yellow and tartrazine as food colorants are becoming popular despite their toxicity. Furthermore, blend of these two dyes (egg yellow) has found indiscriminate usage in confectionaries due to its bright egg yolk-like yellow color. Gallic and p-hydroxybenzoic acid are widely distributed plant polyphenols with known health promoting properties. Hence, this study evaluated the effect of gallic and phydroxybenzoic acids on egg yellow-induced neurotoxicity in Fruit flies Drosophila melanogaster. Wild type (Harwich strain) flies of 3-5 day old (both gender) were exposed to diets supplemented with/without egg yellow in addition to gallic acid or p-hydroxybenzoic acids for 7 days during which the survival, mortality and negative geotaxis indices (behavioral profile) of the flies were monitored. The flies were thereafter sacrificed, and their whole body homogenate assayed for neurochemical parameters. Egg yellow supplementation significantly (P<0.05) reduced fly survival but increased fly mortality and negative geotaxis indices. The dye blend supplementation significantly (P<0.05) disrupted cellular antioxidant system exemplified by depleted protein/non protein thiols and reduced GST, SOD and catalase activities. Furthermore, egg yellow supplementation increased the acetylcholinesterase and monoamine oxidase activities as well as depleted dopamine and L-DOPA levels. However, dietary supplementation with gallic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids significantly (P<0.05) mitigated egg yellowinduced behavioral and neurochemical abnormalities to near normal states in the flies. Taken together, this study suggests that diets rich in gallic and p-hydroxybenzoic acids may protect against certain azo dye induced toxicity and further reinforce their health promoting properties.

1. A. O. Ademiluyi, Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology. Akure 340252, Nigeria

   Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology. Akure 340252, Nigeria

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