Beans, mutagenic activity

We had found earlier that similar pickling of beans, as eaten in high-risk Latin America, or of borscht, as consumed in Eastern Europe, led to mutagenic activity, and thus presumably carcinogenic activity (57)... 

Coffee brewed from roasted beans and those prepared from instant powder, including the caffeine-free type, all display mutagenic activity. Apart from natural mutagens such as caffeic acid and its precursors chlorogenic and neochlorogenic acids, these drinks contain mutagenic products of pyrolysis methylglyoxal and less active gly-oxal and diacetyl (Ames, 1986) ... 

Wu X., Skog K. and Jagerslad M. (1997) Trigonelline, a naturally occurring constituent of green coffee beans behind the mutagenic activity of roasted coffee. Mutation Research 391, 171-7. 

Data presented in Tables 2-4 shew results of more severe heat treatments. Mutagenic activity was generally reduced in samples treated under milder conditions than indicated in the tables. L>ione of the bean saitples was burned or considered inedible. Several sanples were weakly mutagenic and one sample (baked pinto beans) contained moderate mutagenic activity (3/650 revertants/100 gE). Many of the organ meat samples showed weak activity, with sauteed kidney and brain samples being the most active (900 revertants/100 gE). None of the organ meat preparations was charred. 

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