Pyrrolizidine alkaloids in floral honeys of tropical Ghana: a health risk assessment. Issue 4 (2nd October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Letsyo, Emmanuel; Jerz, Gerold; Winterhalter, Peter; Dübecke, Arne; von der Ohe, Werner; von der Ohe, Katharina; Beuerle, Till
• Is Part Of: Food additives & contaminants. Volume 10:Issue 4(2017)
• Page Start: 300
• Page End: 310
• Publication Date: 2017-10-02
• Subjects: Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) -- Chromolaena odorata -- tropical honey -- Ghana -- HPLC-ESI-MS/MS -- food safety -- Africa -- agro-ecological zones -- health risk; Food additives -- Periodicals; Food contamination -- Periodicals; 664.07
• DOI: 10.1080/19393210.2017.1354336
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1939-3210

Abstract

ABSTRACT: There is a vast amount of information about the nutritional and medicinal properties of honey as a result of its numerous benefits. However, honeys have been found to be contaminated with hepatotoxic and carcinogenic pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) on account of bees foraging on PA-containing plants. This study deals with the analysis of PAs in tropical honeys emanating from different agro-ecological zones of Ghana in order to assess its potential health risk. PAs of 48 honey samples were analysed using high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The results show that a total of 85% of the honeys from various agro-ecological zones were PA positive including all honeys from supermarkets. The highest concentration of PAs was 2639 μg kg −1, while the average PA concentration of the samples was 283 μg kg −1 . The study also found Chromolaena odorata pollens in majority of the honeys, thus indicating the plant as major source of PA contamination of honeys in the tropical regions.