Protective effect of soybean saponins and major antioxidants against aflatoxin B1-induced mutagenicity and DNA-adduct formation.
Journal of Medicinal Food. 2002 Winter;5(4):235-40.
Previous studies have suggested that saponins have possible anti-cancer effect. The main dietary sources of saponins are legumes, including soybeans. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of soybean saponins mutagenic activity of aflatoxin B1 on Salmonella typhimurium and human liver cells. The anti-mutagenic effect of saponins was compared to those of other typical antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E including L-ascorbic acid, alpha-tocopherol, vitamin A and butylated hydroxytoluene. The researchers found that the anti-mutagenic activity of saponins was between those of butylated hydroxytoluene and vitamin E. Soybean saponins reduced the muitagenic effect of aflatoxin B1 up to 81%. The preincubation of human liver cells with saponins reduced the amount of DNA adducts significantly. The study concluded that soybean saponins possess a significant anti-mutagenic activity. More studies are required to determine the exact mechanism but soybean saponins seems to block the initial stages of carcinogenesis.
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