N-nitroso compounds in two nitrosated food products in Southwest Korea

doi:10.1016/0278-6915(94)90127-9

Food and Chemical Toxicology

Volume 32, Issue 12, December 1994, Pages 1117-1123

https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-6915(94)90127-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

Gastric cancer is the commonest malignant neoplasm in Southwest Korea. The possibility of carcinogenic dietary factors led to the investigation of exposure to N-nitroso compound precursors among residents of the City of Chonju and of two outlying rural townships in North Cholla Province. Two traditional and widely consumed home-prepared food products, salted pickled cabbage (kimchi) and salted seafood sauce (chut-kal) were analysed (a) for nitrite, nitrate, total secondary amines and pH in these food products prior to nitrite incubation and (b) for volatile nitrosamines and total N-nitroso compounds before and after incubation with nitrite in simulated human stomach conditions. Nitrate levels were significantly higher in kimchi (median 1550 mg/kg) than in chut-kal (median 140 mg/kg) (P < 0.001). Secondary amine levels in non-nitrosated samples of kimchi (median 5.5 mg/kg) were significantly lower than secondary amine levels in non-nitrosated chut-kal (median 56 mg/kg) (P = < 0.001). Analyses of nitrite-incubated kimchi revealed high levels of total N-nitroso compounds (median 1173 μg/kg); the increase with nitrosation was significant (P = 0.001). The concentration of N-nitroso compounds in nitrite-incubated kimchi was significantly greater than that found in nitrite-incubated chut-kal (P = 0.015). The combination of high levels of nitrate in the kimchi, the demonstration of high levels of total N-nitroso compounds in this food after nitrosation, and the volume of kimchi consumed in the traditional diet suggest that salted pickled cabbage may play a role in gastric carcinogenesis in Southwest Korea.

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N-nitroso compounds in two nitrosated food products in Southwest Korea

Abstract

Lancet

Journal of Chromatography

Mechanisms of action of N-nitroso compounds

Cancer Surveys

Chemical carcinogenesis

N-Nitroso compounds and human cancer: where do we stand?

Levels of direct-acting mutagens, total N-nitroso compounds in Southern China

Mutation Research

The etiology of gastric cancer

Studies on secondary amines in foods

The analysis of volatile nitrosamines in Japanese foods

Analysis and occurrence of total N-nitroso compounds in the Japanese diet

Occurrence, formation and precursors of N-nitroso compounds in Japanese diet

Formation of N-nitrosodimethylamine in Korean seafood sauce

Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry