Skip to main content
ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #135895
Title: GENETIC TOXICITY OF A STANDARDIZED MIXTURE OF CITRUS POLYMETHOXYLATED FLAVONES

Author
item DELANEY, BRYAN - CARGILL NUTRACEUTICALS
item PHILLIPS, K - MIDWEST RESEARCH INST
item VASQUEZ, C - MIDWEST RESEARCH INST
item WILSON, A - MIDWEST RESEARCH INST
item COX, D - CARGILL FEED APPLICATIONS
item WANG, H-B - CARGILL CITRO-AMERICA
item Manthey, John

Submitted to: Food and Chemical Toxicology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/18/2001
Publication Date: 5/20/2002
Citation: DELANEY, B., PHILLIPS, K., VASQUEZ, C., WILSON, A., COX, D., WANG, H., MANTHEY, J.A. GENETIC TOXICITY OF A STANDARDIZED MIXTURE OF CITRUS POLYMETHOXYLATED FLAVONES. FOOD AND CHEMICAL TOXICOLOGY. 2002. v. 40. p. 617-624.

Interpretive Summary: Orange oil contains a class of chemicals, termed polymethoxylated flavones, that exhibit biological activities in various cell culture studies. A mixture of these compounds were tested for their abilities to cause genetic alterations in 5 test strains of bacteria. The results of this study showed that this mixture, administered over a wide range of concentrations did not cause any genetic alterations in these cell culture studies. Similar absence of significant genetic alteration activity was observed against mouse lymphoma cells.

Technical Abstract: Flavonoids are a ubiquitous family of phytochemicals that display a variety of biological effects both beneficial and adverse depending on the individual compound. In the present studies, the mutagenicity of a mixture of polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) purified from citrus peel oil was evaluated. In vitro addition of the PMF mixture over a concentration range that spanned four log doses (0.0005 ¿ 5.0 mg/plate) did not reveal any evidence of mutagenicity in 5 bacterial tester strains either in the absence or presence of S9 activation. The PMF mixture exhibited a statistically significant increase in mutagenicity of L5178Y tk+/- mouse lymphoma cells at 0.05 (38.5x10-6; p < 0.05) and 0.1 mg/plate (61x10-6; p < 0.01) compared to vehicle-treated controls (mutation frequency = 19.7x10-6). However, these responses were within historical values observed in negative control cultures and extremely small compared to the positive control (EMS 0.5 ml/ml; 1685.3x10-6). Furthermore, in the presence of S9 there was no indication of genetic toxicity in L5178Y tk+/- cells. These results demonstrate that the PMF mixture is not genotoxic.