Mutagenicity of extracts from Ceylon cinnamon in the rec assay.

The extraction of about 1.9 kg of Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum Nees) with 10 litres each of petroleum ether, chloroform and ethanol in a Soxhlet apparatus produced extracts weighing 76, 28 and 270 g respectively for the three solvents. In the preliminary test the ethanol extract showed no mutagenic activity. However, both the petroleum ether and the chloroform extracts showed mutagenicity when tested in the rec assay using Bacillus subtilis strains H17 (rec+) and M45 (rec-). When these extracts were studied quantitatively by the liquid and spore rec-assay methods, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the extracts against strain H17 were higher than those against strain M45. However, in the presence of the liver S-9 mix, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of the petroleum ether and chloroform extracts against both strains of B. subtilis were equal, indicating that the mutagenicity of the extracts had been inactivated.