Inhibitory effect of dairy products on the mutagenicities of chemicals and dietary mutagens.

The antimutagenic effects of uninoculated milk and milks cultured with Bifidobacterium or Lactobacillus strains towards the mutagenicity induced by two direct mutagens, 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide and 2-nitrofluorene, and three dietary indirect mutagens, aflatoxin B1, benzo(a)pyrene and quercetin, were investigated using the in vitro Salmonella typhimurium test. Each cultured milk sample and control milk had a significant antimutagenic effect, to an extent varying with the mutagen used. Uninoculated milk had a greater inhibitory effect than cultured milks towards dietary indirect mutagens.