Antimutagenicity of milk fermented by Enterococcus faecium.

The diethyl ether extracts isolated from unfermented milk and milk fermented by Enterococcus faecium exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of mutagenesis induced by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), nitrovin (NIT), 5-nitro-2-furylacrylic acid (NFA) and UV-irradiation on the Ames bacterial test (Salmonella typhimurium strains TA97 and TA100) and the unicellular flagellate Euglena gracilis. Overall, the fermented milk extract was the most active against UV-irradiation, less active against NIT and MNNG, and the least active against NFA on bacteria. The highest antibleaching effects were observed against MNNG. The differences between antimutagenic effects from fermented and unfermented milk extracts were determined to be statistically significant at the 0.95 CI level.