Ames mutagenicity tests of products from a heated potato-starch system.

A charred sample was prepared from potato starch heated with ammonium carbonate at 600 degrees C in a flask under a nitrogen stream. The water produced was collected and extracted with methylene chloride. The basic fraction obtained from the extract exhibited strong mutagenicity in Ames assays using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 or TA100 with metabolic activation (rat-liver S-9 mix). The basic fraction was further fractionated by silica gel column chromatography and subsequently by Sephadex column chromatography. Some of the resulting fractions exhibited strong mutagenic activities in S. typhimurium strain TA98 with S-9 mix.