Direct Mutagenic Effects in Some Artificial Food Flavors Using Ames Test

Background and purpose: Nowadays, food flavorings are widely used in Iran in different food and beverage items without considering their potential threats. This research aimed at investigating directed mutagenesis caused by flavorings using the Ames Test. Materials and methods: Direct mutagenesis of five artificial food flavorings (vanilla, banana, orange, coconut, and lemon), from three different brands, was investigated using salmonella typhimurium microbial strains TA98 and TA100, all of which carrying selective mutation in histidine operon in form of (His-). After confirmatory tests of the strains, they were cultured on glucose minimal agar in presence of different concentrations of the flavors. After 48-72 hours of incubation at 37oC, in case of flavor mutagenicity and reverse mutation in the histidine operon, the colonies observed were counted. Results: Direct mutagenesis of the flavors was investigated in three consecutive runs of three different concentrations. According to the results, the number of colony count in each concentration did not exceed twice the number of negative control colony count, which was the mutagenic criterion in this test. Conclusion: According to the results, no sign of direct mutation in form of base-pair substitution or Frame Shift mutation was observed among the specimens’ DNA in different concentrations of flavorings.