Nonmutagenicity of curcumin and its antimutagenic action versus chili and capsaicin.

Turmeric, which is one of the commonly used spices in Indian cooking, was tested for mutagenicity using the Ames test. The alcoholic extract of fresh or dried turmeric, its principal components, and pyrolyzed turmeric powder and curcumin were tested for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains with and without metabolic activation. None of these were mutagenic in all the tester strains. Chilies (which are used with turmeric powder) and their principal alkaloid capsaicin were mutagenic in the TA 98 with S9 mixture. We tested curcumin, which is the principal component of turmeric, for its antimutagenic effect. It showed dose-dependent decreases in mutagenicity of chili extract and capsaicin. Also, we compared the antimutagenicity of curcumin with other known antioxidants, including BHA, vitamins E and C, and vegetable oils. These all showed dose-dependent decreases in mutagenicity of chili extract and capsaicin. These studies show that although there are few mutagenic principles in Indian food, there is still quite a large number of antimutagenic principles in the Indian diet that will modulate the activity of environmental mutagens.