title: Mutagenicity and DNA-damaging activity caused by decomposed products of potassium sorbate reacting with ascorbic acid in the presence of Fe salt.
abstract: Although potassium sorbate (PS), ascorbic acid and ferric or ferrous salts (Fe-salts) are used widely in combination as food additives, the strong reactivity of PS and oxidative potency of ascorbic acid in the presence of Fe-salts might form toxic compounds in food during its deposit and distribution. In the present paper, the reaction mixture of PS, ascorbic acid and Fe-salts was evaluated for mutagenicity and DNA-damaging activity by means of the Ames test and rec-assay. Effective lethality was observed in the rec-assay. No mutagenicity was induced in either Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 (with or without S-9 mix) or TA100 (with S-9 mix). In contrast, a dose-dependent mutagenic effect was obtained when applied to strain TA100 without S-9 mix. The mutagenic activity became stronger increasing with the reaction period. Furthermore, the reaction products obtained in a nitrogen atmosphere did not show any mutagenic and DNA-damaging activity. PS, ascorbic acid and Fe-salts were inactive when they were used separately. Omission of one component from the mixture of PS, ascorbic acid and Fe-salt turned the reaction system inactive. These results demonstrate that ascorbic acid and Fe-salt oxidized PS and the oxidative products caused mutagenicity and DNA-damaging activity.
authors.affiliation: Osaka City Institute of Public Health and Environment Sciences, Osaka 543-0023, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kitano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukukawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohtsuji
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
mesh_terms: D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D004249:DNA Damage; D011756:Diphosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D005290:Ferric Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D005520:Food Preservatives / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D007501:Iron / Q000737:chemistry*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics; D013011:Sorbic Acid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D011756:Diphosphates; D005290:Ferric Compounds; D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D005520:Food Preservatives; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; C042664:ribosomal protein BL16; C020748:ferrous sulfate; C025314:ferric citrate; D004492:Edetic Acid; D007501:Iron; C019179:Fe(III)-EDTA; D001205:Ascorbic Acid; C049051:ferric pyrophosphate; C011819:ferrous gluconate; D013011:Sorbic Acid