The present study was conducted to determine the influence of an ozonation process on
lutein and
protein in clean and contaminated
corns. This study aimed to determine the levels of
lutein and
protein in corn before and after ozonation and to verify the antimutagenic potential of the extracted
lutein against
aflatoxin using the Ames test. The
lutein content was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography.
Nitrogen analysis and
sodium dodecyl sulfate-
polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis were used to analyze
protein. Clean
ozone-treated corn had a total
lutein content of 28.36 microg/g, which was higher than that of 22.75 microg/g in the untreated clean corn. However, the
lutein content was 11.69 microg/g in the
ozone-treated contaminated corn, which was lower than that of 16.42 microg/g in the untreated contaminated corn. In both corn samples, the
protein content of
ozone-treated corn was lower than that of untreated corn, indicating that
protein could be destroyed by the ozonation process, which may influence the nutritious value of the corn.
Lutein extracts alone showed no mutagenic potential against Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA100.
Lutein extracts from corn inhibited the mutagenicity of AFB1 in a dose-response manner more efficiently than
lutein standard.
Lutein extracts from different corn samples had similar antimutagenic potentials against AFB1, so the
ozone treatment did not affect the antimutagenic potentials of
lutein extracts.