Agaritine is a member of a series of hydrazine derivatives, occurring in mushrooms, including the common edible mushroom Agaricus bisporus. It is the most important derivative.
Agaritine undergoes degradation on cooking. It is partly left intact when heated in oil.
In the body, it is hydrolyzed by glutamyltransferase into glutamic acid and
4-(hydroxymethyl)phenylhydrazine (Figure 11.1). Agaritine has proved to be mutagenic in the Salmonella/mammalian microsome assay. If glutamyltransferase is added, the mutagenicity increases, suggesting that 4-(hydroxymethyl)phenylhydrazine is a more potent mutagen. Since the 4-(hydroxymethyl) phenyldiazonium ion is highly mutagenic, it is assumed to be the ultimate mutagen. 4-(Hydroxymethyl)phenylhydrazine induces tumors in soft mouse tissues at the injection site. Recently, also in mice, tumors have been found after mushroom feeding. Further studies are needed to confirm this.