Emerging Issues on Tropane Alkaloid Contamination of Food in Europe

Abstract

The occurrence of tropane alkaloids (TAs), toxic plant metabolites, in food in Europe was studied to identify those TAs in food most relevant for human health. Information was extracted from the literature and the 2016 study from the European Food Safety Authority. Calystegines were identified as being inherent TAs in foods common in Europe, such as Solanum tuberosum (potato), S. melongena (eggplant, aubergine), Capsicum annuum (bell pepper) and Brassica oleracea (broccoli, Brussels sprouts). In addition, some low-molecular-weight tropanes and Convolvulaceae-type TAs were found inherent to bell pepper. On the other hand, atropine, scopolamine, convolvine, pseudotropine and tropine were identified as emerging TAs resulting from the presence of associated weeds in food. The most relevant food products in this respect are unprocessed and processed cereal-based foods for infants, young children or adults, dry (herbal) teas and canned or frozen vegetables. Overall, the occurrence data on both inherent as well as on associated TAs in foods are still scarce, highlighting the need for monitoring data. It also indicates the urge for food safety authorities to work with farmers, plant breeders and food business operators to prevent the spreading of invasive weeds and to increase awareness.

Evaluation of Tropane Alkaloids in Teas and Herbal Infusions: Effect of Brewing Time and Temperature on Atropine and Scopolamine Content

“…Atropine and scopolamine are two natural toxins from the tropane alkaloid (TA) family that are of great concern due to reports of their occurrence in food poisoning events [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. TAs are a large family of alkaloids consisting of more than 200 identified molecules [ 6 , 7 ].…”

“…The population is exposed to these natural toxins through food, usually of plant origin, although some studies have reported the transfer of TAs to animal foods, such as honey and milk [ 3 , 8 ]. Cereals and pseudocereals are the most contaminated foods [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], followed by teas, herbal teas [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], spices [ 21 ], honey [ 22 , 23 ], and vegetables [ 24 , 25 ].…”

“…Cereals and pseudocereals are the most contaminated foods [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ], followed by teas, herbal teas [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], spices [ 21 ], honey [ 22 , 23 ], and vegetables [ 24 , 25 ]. Furthermore, over the past few years, the European Rapid Alert System for the Food and Feed (RASFF) portal has reported numerous alerts on different foodstuffs contaminated by TA-producing plants, such as Atropa belladonna , Datura stramonium , Mandragora , Hyoscyamus niger , and Solanum nigrum [ 3 , 26 ]. Contamination is caused by co-harvested weeds that produce these toxins as they grow between crops, often in more sustainable organic agriculture practices free of pesticides.…”

“…Popularly, weeds are trawled along with crops during automatic harvesting, resulting in contamination. Awareness of this potential contamination and good manufacturing practices will reduce the risk of mixing toxic and non-toxic plants [ 3 ]. However, recently, another route of contamination was proposed [ 25 ].…”

“…Despite knowledge about the occurrence of these toxins in food and emerging issues related to TA contamination due to weeds growing among food crops, many questions remain unanswered. For example, studies on the occurrence of TAs in food from associated weeds have mainly focused on cereals (i.e., a seed of stramonium in buckwheat), and there are limited data available for other foods, such as teas and herbal teas [ 3 ]. High concentrations of atropine and scopolamine have been found in samples of green tea, black tea, chamomile, peppermint, rooibos, coca leaf tea, verbena, fennel, and nettle, among others [ 1 , 16 , 17 , 20 , 21 , 30 , 31 ].…”