In recent years the study and application of the active substances from medicinal and aromatic plants finds the place in antimutagenesis/anticarcinogenesis. Given appropriate screening and fractionating methodologies it is possible to identify a wide variety of structural types in higher plants (tannins, essential oils, flavonoids, etc.) possessing inhibiting or modulating effect on environmental genotoxic agents, which may allow the use of particular antimutagens as anticarcinogens.

Antigenotoxic potentials of essential oils of sage (Salvia officinalis L.), basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), and their major constituents have been investigated. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic tests applied are considered to measure genetic endpoints (reverse mutation, replication fidelity, recombination, mutagenic repair, chromosome aberration). Detection of bioantimutagens, agents preventing mutagenesis by modulation of DNA repair and replication, was performed with the new E. coli K12 assay and S. typhimurium (Ames) test.

The results indicate that monoterpenoids from cultivated sage inhibit UV-induced mutagenesis via enhanced recombinational repair. Protective effect of monoterpenoids on UV-induced reversions is confirmed in S. cerevisiae D7. Preliminary experiments indicate that dietary exposure to essential oil of sage suppressed in vivo mytomicine C induced chromosome aberration in mice. Further study is aimed to demonstrate the usefulness of plant antimutagens as anticarcinogens.