Absence of genotoxicity of potato alkaloids α-chaconine, α-solanine and solanidine in the ames salmonella and adult and foetal erythrocyte micronucleus assays

Abstract

To assess whether reported toxicities of potato-derived glycoalkaloids could be the result of interactions with cellular DNA, the genotoxic effects of α-solanine, α-chaconine and solanidine were studied, using the Ames test (Salmonella strains TA98 and TA100), the mouse peripheral blood micronucleus test and the mouse transplacental micronucleus test. The Ames test for mutagenicity with α-solanine was weakly positive in TA100 with S-9 activation (29 revertants per millimole per plate). However, pooled data from duplicate tests gave a negative effect. Pooled data from two experiments with α-chaconine gave a weak positive response in TA98 without microsomes (17 revertants per millimole per plate). The micronucleus tests for clastogenicity using male mouse and foetal blood were negative. The absence of mutagenicity and clastogenicity suggests lack of damage to intracellular DNA for potato alkaloid toxicity.