Bacterial Reverse Mutation Test and Micronucleus Test of Fucoxanthin Oil from Microalgae

Fucoxanthin-containing oil extracted from microalga, Chaetoseros sp., was aubjected to genotoxicity studies, the bacterial reverse mutation test and the micronucleus test in mice. The number of revertant colonies in fucoxanthin oil-treated plates of all strains tested was less than twice the number of colonies in the negative control, regardless of the presence of the metabolic activator in the bacterial reverse mutation test. In the micronucleus test, 500, 1,000, 2,000 mg/kg body weight of fucoxanthin oil was administered orally to mice. There was no significant increase in micronucleus frequency in bone marrow cells. These results suggest that fucoxanthin oil does not exhibit genotoxicity.