Abstract
The effects of furan compounds, which were produced by the reactions of amino acids with sugars, were examined on the mutagenicity of some mutagens. Amino-carbonyl reaction mixtures of Phe and Cys and glucose or fructose in the presence of malic acid at 100°C for 8 hr inhibited the mutagenicity of Trp-P-1 and Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) toward Salmonella typhimurium TA 98 and TA 100. Furan compounds such as 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural, 5-methylfurfural, furfural, furfuryl alcohol, furan, 2-acetylfuran and 2-methylfuran also inhibited the mutagenicity of Trp-P-1, B[a]P and 2-aminofluorene toward TA 98 and TA 100 in the presence of S9 mix. The desmutagenic action of these furan compounds varied with the kind of mutagen. Among the furan compounds, 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural, furfural and 2-acetylfuran showed high desmutagenicity towards the mutagens used, while the desmutagenicity of furan and 5-methylfurfural was low.
