Antioxidant and antimutagenic activity of dietary chlorophyll derivatives determined by radical scavenging and bacterial reverse mutagenesis assays

In vitro antioxidant and antimutagenic activity of dietary chlorophyll derivatives was assessed. Antioxidant activity was determined by the ability of each compound to scavenge the long-lived free radicals I, diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH.) and 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS(.+)). Antimutagenic activity was assayed with a modified microscreen bacterial reverse mutagenicity assay using Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and benzo [a] pyrene as the tester strain and mutagen respectively. Derivatives of chlorophyll a were found to be more effective radical quenchers than those of chlorophyll b. Furthermore, metal-free derivatives such as chlorins, pheophytins, and pyropheophytins exhibited significantly lower antiradical capacity than metallo-derivatives such as Mg-chlorophylls, Zti-pheophytins, Zn-pyropheophytins, Cu-pheophytin a, and Cu-chlorophyllins. Both metal-free and metallo-chlorophyll derivatives demonstrated similar dose-dependent inhibitory activity against B [a] P induced mutagenesis. These results demonstrate that dietary chlorophyll derivatives prevalent in both fresh and processed foods and dietary supplements have antioxidant and antimutagenic activities.