Abstract
The antimutagenic activities of 10 kinds of herbs and spices used as “yakumi” (black and white peppers, Japanese pepper, red pepper, welsh onion, onion, ginger, garlic, and white and black sesame) were investigated. The antimutagenicity was examined by the suppression of mutagenicity induced by Trp-P1, 1-nitropyrene (1-NP), and activated metabolites of Trp-P1 (act. Trp-P1) and Trp-P2 (act. Trp-P2) toward Salmonella typhimurium TA98 according to the Ames method. The mechanism for the antimutagenic activity was also examined by comparing the antimutagenic intensity against different types of mutagens. Six samples (black pepper, Japanese pepper, red pepper, welsh onion, onion and ginger) of 10 kinds of methanol extract from “yakumi” showed inhibitory effects on the mutagenicity induced by 1-NP, while 6 extracts (white pepper, red pepper, welsh onion, onion, ginger and garlic) were also active against Trp-P1.
Furthermore, the antimutagenic activities of the hexane, benzene, ethyl acetate and methanol fractions from the methanol extracts of several samples were also observed against Trp-P1, 1-NP, act. Trp-P1 and act. Trp-P2. In most cases, the extracts inhibited not only the microsomal activation-dependent mutagen, but also the direct-acting mutagens such as 1-NP and act. Trp-P1. These results indicate that several types of “yakumi” inhibited the mutagenicity induced by various mutagens.
