Desmutagenicities against 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4, 5-b] pyridine(PhIP) and 2-amino-3, 8-dimethylimidazo[4, 5-f]quinoxaline(MelQx) of tea extracts (steamed green tea, roasted green tea, oolong tea and black tea) were investigated. All the fractions obtained from tea extracts showed strong desmutagenic activity against PhIP and MeIQx toward S. typhimurium TA 98 in the presence of the S-9 mix. The crude catechin fraction exhibited the strongest desmutagenic activity. Among these tea extracts, black tea especially exhibited the strongest desmutagenic activity and the activity was 70.9~91.0% against PhIP and 92.2~98.8% against MelQx at a concentration(0.5~1.0mg/plate) for drinking. The activity of authentic catechins of (-)-EGC, (-)-EGCg, (-)-ECg and (-)-EC were 79.5%, 60.2%, 46.1% and 43.5% against PhIP, and were 52.3%, 11.6%, 8.2% and 22.1% against MelQx by addition of 1.0mg/plate, respectively. The desmutagenic activity was supposedly due to the (-)-EGCg, (-)-EGC and (-)-EC in tea polyphenols, and the browning materials. The desmutagenicity was stronger when mutagens were preincubated with S-9 mix after reaciton with black tea extracts than when preincubated with them after reaction with S-9 mix. The desmutagenicity of tea extracts was rather expressed by reacting directly with mutagens than by deactivating the activated forms of mutagens.