A review on DNA interaction with synthetic phenolic food additives

Synthetic phenolic food additives occupy an important place in food industry. Among the various food additives butylated hydroxyanisol (BHA), tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), 2-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (TBMP) and propyl gallate (PG) have potential to form molecular complexes with nucleic acid structure and have attracted recent attention for their prospective industrial utility. This review highlights the properties of these synthetic phenolic food additives and their interactions with calf thymus DNA (CT-DNA) reported by several research groups. Various analytical techniques were employed including absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopies, viscosity, voltammetry and thermodynamic studies to provide more details about binding mechanism of these food additives with DNA. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.