1,143
Views
27
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

Cyanogenic glycosides in plant-based foods available in New Zealand

, &
Pages 1946-1953 | Received 06 May 2013, Accepted 10 Jul 2013, Published online: 28 Aug 2013
 

Abstract

Cyanogenic glycosides occur in a wide range of plant species. The potential toxicity of cyanogenic glycosides arises from enzymatic degradation to produce hydrogen cyanide, which may result in acute cyanide poisoning and has also been implicated in the aetiology of several chronic diseases. One hundred retail foods were sampled and analysed for the presence of total hydrocyanic acid using an acid hydrolysis–isonicotinic/barbituric acid colourimetric method. Food samples included cassava, bamboo shoots, almonds and almond products, pome fruit products, flaxseed/linseed, stone fruit products, lima beans, and various seeds and miscellaneous products, including taro leaves, passion fruit, spinach and canned stuffed vine leaves. The concentrations of total hydrocyanic acid (the hydrocyanic acid equivalents of all cyanogenic compounds) found were consistent with or lower than concentrations reported in the scientific literature. Linseed/flaxseed contained the highest concentrations of total hydrocyanic acid of any of the analysed foods (91–178 mg kg−1). Linseed-containing breads were found to contain total hydrocyanic acid at concentrations expected from their linseed content, indicating little impact of processing on the total hydrocyanic acid content. Simulation modelling was used to assess the risk due to the total hydrocyanic acid in fruit juice and linseed-containing bread. 

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries for funding the work reported in this paper and Food Standards Australia New Zealand for their critical input. The authors wish to acknowledge the Ministry of Health as owner of the copyright and funders of the 1997 National Nutrition Survey and the 2002 National Children’s Nutrition Survey and thank them for access to food consumption information from these surveys.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.