The role of plants in radiation protection

Humans are exposed to ionizing radiation during diagnosis therapy, industry, energy sector and inadvertent exposure in air and space travel, nuclear accidents and nuclear terror attacks. Ionizing radiation produces deleterious effects on humans by damaging genetic material, which is reflected in genotoxicity and can cause hereditary damage. Therefore, the protection of humans from ionizing radiation hazard is a priority in radiation biology. Thus, the search and development of radioprotective agents has been explored in recent years. Taking into account that plants evolve in radiative conditions, their capability to protect humans against radiation has been analyzed and highlighted. Several crude extracts, fractioned extracts, isolated phyto compounds, and plant polysaccharides have induced radioprotection chiefly by involving biochemical pathways. Therefore, plant extracts protect against radiation-induced lethality, lipid peroxidation and Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) damage. The development in botanical studies may help to develop novel radioprotectors of plant origin. (author)