THE INVOLVEMENT OF REACTIVE OXYGEN SPECIES IN THE DIRECT-ACTING MUTAGENICITY OF WINE

The Ara forward mutagenicity assay with Salmonella typhimurium detected wine as a strong mutagen in the absence of mammalian microsomal activation and/or glycosidase activities, in agreement with previous findings. The standard amount (50-mu-l) of S9 fraction in the preincubation mutagenesis test abolished most of the mutagenic activity of red wine in the Ara assay. The S9 fraction exerted the same inactivating capacity on hydrogen peroxide and coffee, a complex mixture generating H2O2. Catalase was identified as the putative S9 component responsible for its inactivating capacity. This specific scavenger for H2O2 abolished around 90% of the mutagenicity of red wine. The suppressing effect of catalase was much less noticeable in white and rose wines. Phenolics are proposed to be responsible for the direct-acting mutagenicity of wine through an autoxidative process leading to the production of H2O2.