Abstract
Economically, food industry is one of the fastest growing industries throughout the world generating a high level of competitiveness among producers. Colour of food creates a psychological anticipation for a certain flavour To fulfill the demands of the consumers, the producers add more and more colours to the food to modify its appearance without being concerned about its adverse health effects. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the toxicity of food dyes tartrazine and sunset yellow on the mitotic cells of Trachyspermum ammi (ajwain). Both the dyes were implemented at the four doses viz. 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% in the root tip cells of T. ammi. Mitotic indices and chromosomal anomalies were calculated. Frequently observed chromosomal anomalies were stickiness, precocious movement, c-metaphase, bridges, laggards, unorientation and forward movement, etc. The result suggests the genotoxic consequences of two food dyes in the root tip cells of the test system used.
