Fermentation characteristics, and antimutagenic and anticancer effects of mistletoe added kimchi were studied. The changes in pH, acidity and the value of prevalence test of the mistletoe added kimchi during the fermentation were determined. Ames antimutagenicity test against aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in Salmonella typhimurium TA100, and MTT assay using HT-29 human colon carcinoma cells and AGS human gastric adenocarcinoma cells were employed to test the chemopreventive effect of the kimchis. Mistletoe added kimchis were fermented at 15^oC for 1 days and then ripened at 5^oC to reach optimum pH of 4.3. Mistletoe added kimchis fermented slowly compared to the control kimchi when the changes of pH and acidity of the kimchis were compared. Sour flavor of mistletoe in the kimchis was decreased during the fermentation. Mistletoe added kimchis exhibited higher inhibitory effect against the mutagenicities induced by AFB₁ and MNNG in the Ames test than the control kimchi. Especially, 2% mistletoe added kimchi showed the highest inhibitory effect (75%, 68%) in the Ames test (p＜0.05). Two % mistletoe added kimchi showed the highest anticancer effect against HT-29 human colon cells (p＜0.05). Mistletoe added kimchis exhibited significantly higher anticancer effect than the control kimchi in AGS cells, too, however, there was no significant different effect among the different levels of mistletoe (0.5∼2.0%) addition (p＜0.05). It can be concluded that addition of mistletoe in kimchi increased preservation period of the kimchi and enhanced antimutagenic and anticancer effects of the kimchi.

Keywords: Kimchi, Mistletoe, Ames mutagenicity test, MTT assay