A survey of arylamine n-acetyltransferase activity in common fruits and vegetables

The N-acetyltransferase activity was determined in 58 common fruits and vegetables. The assay was based on acetylation of 2-aminofluorene or p-aminobenzoic acid, followed by high pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of products and remaining nonacetylated substrate. The highest specific activities were observed in Balsam pear which contained 17.37 +/- 1.45 N-acetyl aminofluorene nmole/min/mg protein and 46.27 +/- 6.87 N-acetyl p-aminobenzoic acid nmole/min/mg protein. N-acetyltransferase activities within the remaining 57 foodstuffs analyzed ranged from none detected to 3.39 +/- 0.72 N-acetyl aminofluorene nmole/min/mg protein and none detected to 32.45 +/- 6.55 N-acetyl p-aminobenzoic acid nmole/min/mg protein. This is the first demonstration of acetyl CoA: arylamine N-acetyltransferase activity in common foodstuffs.