• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.308-313
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• 1992

Volatile aromatic compounds collected from raw and roasted mugwort (Artemisia asictica nakai) leaves by the Tenax trap and some major volatile compounds were separated and identified by GC-MS. The identified compounds were tested for the antimutagenic and mutagenic activities against aflatoxin B$_1$(AFB$_1$) using their authentic compounds. Six compounds (myrcene, cineole, camphor, caryophyllen, coumarin, and farnesol) showed antimutagenic activities, but 2-pyrrolidine and thujone showed mutagenic activities. 1-Acetylpiperidine formed during roasting mugwort leaves exhibited mutagenic activities. When the mutagens and antimutagens were mixed, the mixture reduced the mutagenicity of AFB$_1$. These results suggested that the extract of mugwort leaves is not mutagenic and so the mugwort leaves might be used as a food and as medicinal sources without mutagenicity.