Evaluation of Developmental Toxicity of Various Food Preservatives Using Drosophila Melanogaster

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or enhance its taste, appearance, or other qualities. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as with wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the twentieth century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin. Food additives also include substances that may be introduced to food indirectly (called indirect additives) in the manufacturing process, through packaging, or during storage or transport. The main objectives of the study was to understand and identify the effects of increased intake of food preservatives such as BHT, Aspartame and MSG in the metamorphosis and development of Drosophila meangaster The method used to assess the protein concentration was Lowry’s and also colourimetry method. In this study the effect of preservatives on demography, Gender, Polytene chromosome, Sexcomb and Protein concentrations of Drosophila melanogaster were analysed.