Clastogenic effect of aqueous extracts of palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) flour on human blood lymphocytes.

Palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer) flour is consumed by humans in some Asian and African countries. In view of its toxic and carcinogenic effects, including the induction of malignant lymphomas in rats, we examined the mutagenic effects of aqueous extracts of the flour on human blood lymphocytes in vitro. The extracts were clastogenic, mainly to group A chromosomes, producing chromatid and chromosome gaps, and chromatid and chromosome breaks with some formation of large and small acentric fragments. Dicentric chromosomes and chromatid interchanges were rare. No ring chromosome was detected. These effects were dose-dependent and were consistently produced by crude extracts of different batches of flour, but were less frequent than the clastogenic effects of mitomycin C which was used as a positive control. No mitogenic effect of the extracts alone was observed.