Abstract
Nutmeg, oregano and dark soy are among household spices which are consumed in large quantities globally. This study
evaluated the mutagenic and genotoxic potential of nutmeg, oregano and dark soy using the SOS Chromotest on Escherichia
coli PQ37 and the Ames Salmonella fluctuation test on Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. The concentrations
of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 g/ 10 mL distilled water of nutmeg and oregano, and 10, 25, 50 and 100% soy were utilized for the
Ames test while six concentrations of two-fold dilutions of 1g of nutmeg and oregano and 100% of dark soy were utilized for
SOS Chromotest. The result of the Ames test showed mutagenicity of nutmeg and oregano but not of dark soy, while the SOS
Chromotest results showed genotoxicity of nutmeg, oregano and dark soy. E. coli PQ37 system showed better sensitive than the
Salmonella assay for detecting genotoxins in the tested samples. The results of this study indicated that nutmeg and oregano are
genotoxic while dark soy showed genotoxicity only at low concentration. Long term exposure to these condiments can lead to
bioaccumulation which might have varying degrees of genotoxic and mutagenic effects including cancer in exposed individuals.
