Dietary Intake ofCurcuma longaandEmblica officinalisIncreases Life Span inDrosophila melanogaster

Abstract

Intake of food and nutrition plays a major role in affecting aging process and longevity. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the ageing process are still unclear. To this respect, diet has been considered to be a determinant of ageing process. In order to better illustrate this, we usedDrosophila melanogasteras a model and fed them orally with different concentrations of two commonly used Indian medicinal plant products,Curcuma longa(rhizome) andEmblica officinalis(fruit). The results revealed significant increase in life span ofDrosophilaflies on exposure to both the plant products, more efficiently byC. Longathan byE. officinalis. In order to understand whether the increase in lifespan was due to high-antioxidant properties of these medicinal plants, we performed enzymatic assays to assess the SOD and catalase activities in case of both treated and controlDrosophilaflies. Interestingly, the results support the free radical theory of aging as both these plant derivatives show high reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activities.