RESUMEN
A series of in vitro studies were conducted to assess the genetic toxicity of jelly mushroom glycolipids from Dacryopinax spathularia (herein referred to as "AM-1"). In the bacterial reverse mutation assay (Ames test), there was no evidence of mutagenic activity in any Salmonella typhimurium strains tested or in Escherichia coli strain WP2uvrA, at dose levels up to 5000 µg/plate. In the micronucleus (MN) test using human lymphocytes, AM-1 did not show a statistically significant increase in the number of binucleated cells containing micronuclei when compared to concurrent control cultures at all time points and at any of the concentrations analyzed (up to 900⯵g/ml of culture medium). No increase in mutation frequency or numbers of small and large colonies were noted for AM-1 (up to 800⯵g/ml) compared to concurrent controls when tested in the mouse lymphoma thymidine kinase assay (MLA). Therefore, AM-1 was concluded to be negative in all three assays performed both in the absence and presence of Aroclor 1254- or phenobarbital/ß-naphthoflavone-induced rat liver (S9 mix) for metabolic activation. These results support the safety assessment of jelly mushroom glycolipids for potential use in food.