Duarte M P, Laires A, Gaspar J, Oliveira J S, Rueff J
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Teratog Carcinog Mutagen. 2000;20(4):241-9. doi: 10.1002/1520-6866(2000)20:4<241::aid-tcm6>3.0.co;2-4.
Instant coffee exhibits genotoxic activity upon nitrosation at acidic pH values in the Ames tester strain TA100. Using adsorption chromatography (Amberlit XAD-2) it was observed that the major fraction of molecules responsible for the genotoxic activity upon nitrosation was not retained on this resin, suggesting that the polar molecules present in instant coffee could be responsible for the genotoxicity observed upon nitrosation. Some phenolic molecules present in instant coffee (catechol, caffeic acid, and chlorogenic acid) were also genotoxic upon nitrosation under the same experimental conditions. The concentrations of nitrosatable phenolic compounds in the studied coffee were determined by HPLC and their contributions to the total genotoxicity observed were studied. The results obtained suggest that besides phenolic compounds other molecules were also involved in the genotoxicity of this beverage upon nitrosation. Teratogenesis Carcinog. Mutagen. 20:241-249, 2000.
