Antimutagenic effects of casein and its digestion products

The antimutagenic potential of casein was investigated using several mutagens, including some food-related mutagens, and the Salmonella/microsome and Escherichia coli DNA-repair tests. The effect depended on the type of mutagen and the incubation time of casein with the mutagens. Casein was very effective against benzo[a]pyrene, N-methylnitrosourea and nitrosated 4-chloroindole, and was less effective towards sodium azide and N-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (NQO). Preincubation increased the antimutagenic potential of casein towards NQO. Heating of casein (up to 20 min at 130 degrees C) did not alter its antimutagenic capacity. The effect of pepsin hydrolysis under simulated gastric conditions on the antimutagenic capacity of casein was tested with sodium azide and NQO in the Salmonella/microsome test. The peptides formed were separated by ultrafiltration or by isoelectric precipitation of casein, and were characterized by HPLC size-exclusion and Kjeldahl analysis. The antimutagenic potential of casein increased with pepsin hydrolysis; this increase was due to the peptides formed and might be explained by a better accessibility of casein peptides for interaction with mutagens. The antimutagenic potential of pepsin-hydrolysed casein towards sodium azide was observed over the whole dose-response curve.