Various combinations of burned animal-based amino acids have been documented to show mutagenic characteristics via the Ames test. In our lab, the Ames test was carried out on a compound isolated from a sample of burned phenylalanine and arginine, plant-based amino acids, to test for mutagenicity. The Ames test uses Salmonella TA98, which are dependent on histidine for growth. Mutagenic compounds mutate Salmonella, allowing colonies to grow on nutrient media lacking histidine. Results showed that our isolated compound exhibited mutagenic characteristics similar to a known animal-based heterocyclic amine, PhIP, providing evidence for a new plant-based class of mutagenic heterocyclic amines.