Hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in pollen and drying-related implications for commercial processing of bee pollen.
Using HPLC-ESI-MS, several saturated and 1,2-dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids were detected, mainly as their N-oxides, in fresh pollen collected from flowers of the pyrrolizidine alkaloid-producing plants Echium vulgare, E. plantagineum, Senecio jacobaea, S. ovatus, and Eupatorium cannabinum, and/or pollen loads from bees (bee pollen) that foraged on those plants. A major alkaloidal metabolite in S. ovatus was tentatively identified, using its mass spectrometric data and biogenic considerations, as the previously unreported, saturated alkaloid, 2-hydroxysarracine. Heating had very little effect on the 1,2-dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides from a variety of sources. Considered in conjunction with international concerns about the adverse effects of these alkaloids, the results strongly indicate a need for monitoring pollen supplies intended for human consumption, at least until conditions for processing and/or selection are clearly defined such as to significantly reduce the hepatotoxic (and potentially carcinogenic and genotoxic) pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of bee pollen.
CSIRO Livestock Industries, Plant Toxins Research Group, Private Bag 24, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
Michael
M
Boppré
Steven M
SM
Colegate
John A
JA
Edgar
Ottmar W
OW
Fischer
D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D056486:Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; D003890:Desiccation; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry*; D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
D011763:Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids