ABSTRACT
Traditional beverages such as coffee, tea, wine, and beer have been prepared and consumed by mankind for centuries. Recently, however, certain compounds, occurring naturally as components or formed from them during processing such as roasting and fermentation, have been shown to have possible adverse biological effects. Of special concern was the possible existence of compounds in the final beverage which may cause DNA damage. Some classes of compounds induced mutagenic effects in a variety of in vitro mutagenicity test systems ranging from microorganisms to mammalian cells in culture. However in the majority of cases the relatively strong mutagenic effect observed in vitro could not be confirmed under in vivo conditions. In fact, many even showed antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic effects, especially in the case of constituents with antioxidant properties.
