Spread of Jacobaea vulgaris and Occurrence of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Regionally Produced Honeys from Northern Germany: Inter- and Intra-Site Variations and Risk Assessment for Special Consumer Groups

Abstract

<jats:p>Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) and PA N-oxides (PANO) are secondary plant metabolites exhibiting genotoxic and carcinogenic properties. Apart from the roots and leaves, PA/PANO are particularly present in pollen and nectar. Therefore, the spread of Jacobaea vulgaris in certain regions of northern Germany has an impact on the safety of honey produced in that region. In this study, raw honey samples (n = 437) were collected from usually three individual beehives per site (n = 73) in the district of Ostholstein and analyzed for 25 PA/PANO. The results reveal mean levels of 8.4, 1.5, and 72.6 µg/kg and maximum levels of 111, 59.4, and 3313 µg/kg, depending on the season (summer 2015 and spring/summer 2016, respectively). As far as individual data are concerned, sites near areas with J. vulgaris growth did not necessarily result in high PA/PANO values. Furthermore, intra-site investigations revealed remarkable differences in PA/PANO levels of raw honey collected by different bee colonies at the same site. Consumption of these regionally produced honeys entails an increased exposure to PA/PANO, especially in children and high consumers. Margin of exposure values of &lt;10,000 and an exceedance of the health-based guidance value highlight that regionally produced and marketed honey must be considered with care for a proper risk assessment and risk management.</jats:p>

Metabolic Toxification of 1,2-Unsaturated Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids Causes Human Hepatic Sinusoidal Obstruction Syndrome: The Update

“…Most bee products, such as honey, bee pollen, propolis, and royal jelly, are consumed by humans in a belief in their health benefits, although evidence-based data in support of such beneficial properties are limited [ 26 , 27 ]. Better studied is the potential contamination of bee products with PAs; for example, by bees collecting material from flowering plants that contain PAs [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. However, of theoretical interest only are these abundant reports, because they focus primarily on the amount of PAs in bee products rather than on the issue of whether or not even high amounts of PAs are potentially dangerous to consumers, e.g., causing liver injury in the form of HSOS.…”

The invasive butterbur contaminates stream and seepage water in groundwater wells with toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids

“…It is estimated that 3% of all flowering plants contain at least one unsaturated PA 65 . In regions where these plants are prevalent there is an emerging concern of PAs highly exceeding safety limits in honey 20 , 24 , 66 – 69 . Despite their abundance in flora, the degree of natural PA emissions and their fate in the environment remains largely unknown.…”

Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids glycosides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids from propolis of Scaptotrigona aff. postica

“…Echimidine, lycopsamine, and intermedine were the most abundant alkaloids detected in honey, along with lesser amounts of each of their N-oxides (Kowalczyk et al, 2018, Hungerford et al, 2019, Wang et al, 2019. Echimidine-N-oxide was the main alkaloid detected in honey and nectar samples, while echivulgarine-N-oxide was the main PA found in plant pollen, indicating that nectar contributes more significantly to PA contamination in honey than pollen collected in plant (Lucchetti et al, 2016, Kast et al, 2019, Picron et al, 2019, Gottschalk et al, 2020. 3'-O-Glucosyllycopsamine and 3' -O-glucosylintermedine and the corresponding N-oxides were identified in honey samples containing high contents of lycopsamine-type PAs/PANOs (Hungerford et al, 2019).…”