MUTAGENICITY OF CHINESE ALCOHOLIC SPIRITS

Using chromatography on XAD-2 columns, concentrates were made from 27 samples of commonly consumed Chinese alcoholic spirits and from five samples of selected imported alcoholic beverages. These concentrates were tested for mutagenic properties using the Salmonella typhimuriam/ microsomal test system. Mutagenic activity was detected in 17 of the 27 Chinese spirits but not in any of the imported drinks. The concentrates were shown to contain frameshift and/or base-pair substitution mutagens; some required metabolic activation and others did not. The data appeared to support various epidemiological studies suggesting that alcohol consumption might be an aetiological agent in cancer of the oesophagus. © 1979.