MUTAGENICITY OF WHITE GRAPE JUICE IN THE AMES TEST

The mutagenicity of commercially available white grape juice was evalu ated in the Ames mutagenicity test. Grape juice elicited a positive mu tagenic response in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA104 and a weaker r esponse in strains TA97, TA98, TA100 and TA1530. The mutagenic respons e was evident in the absence of an activation system and inclusion of such a system did not influence mutagenicity. The grape juice-mediated mutagenic response was not due to histidine residues in the juice or likely treatment with sulfite. Moreover, freshly prepared grape juice displayed a similar mutagenic response. Three different brands of comm ercially available white grape juice were investigated in the Ames tes t; they all provoked a clear positive mutagenic response, but the degr ee of mutagenicity differed and could not be attributed to differences in the content of solids. It is concluded that grapes contain direct- acting genotoxic component(s). Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd