The current review deals with understanding of the mutagenic events, methods of its analysis and a brief compilation of the existing scientific findings related to the dietary sources having potential to counteract the effects of the mutagenic exposures from different sources. These health protective phytochemicals particularly antimutagenic ones could provide an effective solution to these concerns.

The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates that one-third of all cancer deaths are preventable and that diet is closely linked to cancer prevention. Natural occurring dietary antimutagens primarily from health protective foods such as fruits and vegetables could provide a mechanism to counteract the deleterious effect of these mutagens. As many of these mutagenic chemicals can induce severe disorders in humans including cancer and a large spectrum of inherited diseases, it is important to detect such mutagenic agents precisely and rapidly, and also look for an approach to combat them. Agents contributing to the mutagenic burden in the environment could be from industrial sources, wide spectrum applications of biocides in the agriculture, and other contaminants. Mutation is the process leading to heritable changes in the genetic material of an organism and caused mainly by the external factors, including chemical and physical agents, or can also occur spontaneously due to errors in DNA replication, repair, and recombination.

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