Tropane alkaloid contamination of agricultural commodities and food products in relation to consumer health: Learnings from the 2019 Uganda food aid outbreak

A toxicological review of alkaloids

Alkaloids are naturally occurring compounds with complex structures found in natural plants. To further improve the understanding of plant alkaloids, this review focuses on the classification, toxicity and mechanisms of action, providing insight into the occurrence of alkaloid-poisoning events and guiding the safe use of alkaloids in food, supplements and clinical applications. Based on their chemical structure, alkaloids can be divided into organic amines, diterpenoids, pyridines, isoquinolines, indoles, pyrrolidines, steroids, imidazoles and purines. The mechanisms of toxicity of alkaloids, including neurotoxicity, hepatoxicity, nephrotoxicity, cardiotoxicity and cytotoxicity, have also been reviewed. Some cases of alkaloid poisoning have been introduced when used as food or clinically, including accidental food poisoning, excessive consumption, and poisoning caused by the improper use of alkaloids in a clinical setting, and the importance of safety evaluation was illustrated. This review summarizes the toxicity and mechanism of action of alkaloids and provides evidence for the need for the safe use of alkaloids in food, supplements and clinical applications.

Occurrence and health risk assessment of tropane alkaloids in cereal foods consumed in Korea

Tropane alkaloids (TA) are natural toxins found in certain plants, including cereals, of which atropine and scopolamine are the main species of concern due to their acute toxicity. This study aimed to determine the occurrence of TA in cereal foods and assess the potential health risks associated with their consumption in Korea. TA levels were analyzed in 80 raw and 71 processed cereal samples, which were distributed throughout Korea in 2021, using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. At least one of the six TA species, namely atropine, scopolamine, pseudotropine, tropinone, scopine, and 6-hydroxytropinone, was detected in 10 out of the 151 samples at levels ranging from 0.12 to 88.10 μg kg-1. Dietary exposure (mean, 0.23 ng kg-1 bw day-1) to atropine and scopolamine in the Korean population was estimated to be low across all age groups. This is despite considering worst-case scenarios using the total concentrations of atropine and scopolamine in a millet sample, both of which were detected, and 95th percentile consumption for consumers of millet only. Both the hazard index and margin of exposure methods indicated that the current levels of TA exposure from millet consumption were unlikely to pose significant health risks to the Korean population.

[The One Health approach in the context of global commodity chains, crises, and food and feed safety]

The holistic view of food and feed safety, including animal health and environmental conditions, is an important pillar of the One Health approach. The terminology thus clearly goes beyond the prevention of spreading microbiological diseases, in which context it is often understood, and highlights that humans, animals, and the environment as well as their interaction should be considered in a transdisciplinary context.In terms of One Health, this discussion paper focuses less on microbiological risks, but rather on the connection to chemical risks in the food chain. This is illustrated by concrete examples of chemical contaminants (metals, persistent organic contaminants, natural toxins). The mechanisms of input and transfer along the food chain are presented.Minimizing the presence of contaminants and thus exposure requires international and interdisciplinary cooperation in the spirit of the One Health approach. Climate change, pandemics, shortages of raw materials, energy deficiencies, political crises, and environmental disasters can affect the entire food chain from primary production of plant and animal foods to further processing and provision of products to consumers. In addition to changing availability, this can also have an impact on the composition, quality, and safety of food and feed. Based on the effect on global commodity chains, vulnerable and resilient areas along the food chain become visible. In terms of the One Health approach, the aim is to increase safety and resilience along the food chain and to minimize its vulnerability.

Emerging Issues on Tropane Alkaloid Contamination of Food in Europe

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.

Beauty of the beast: anticholinergic tropane alkaloids in therapeutics

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are among the most valued chemical compounds known since pre-historic times. Poisonous plants from Solanaceae family (Hyoscyamus niger, Datura, Atropa belladonna, Scopolia lurida, Mandragora officinarum, Duboisia) and Erythroxylaceae (Erythroxylum coca) are rich sources of tropane alkaloids. These compounds possess the anticholinergic properties as they could block the neurotransmitter acetylcholine action in the central and peripheral nervous system by binding at either muscarinic and/or nicotinic receptors. Hence, they are of great clinical importance and are used as antiemetics, anesthetics, antispasmodics, bronchodilator and mydriatics. They also serve as the lead compounds to generate more effective drugs. Due to the important pharmacological action they are listed in the WHO list of essential medicines and are available in market with FDA approval. However, being anticholinergic in action, TA medication are under the suspicion of causing dementia and cognitive decline like other medications with anticholinergic action, interestingly which is incorrect. There are published reviews on chemistry, biosynthesis, pharmacology, safety concerns, biotechnological aspects of TAs but the detailed information on anticholinergic mechanism of action, clinical pharmacology, FDA approval and anticholinergic burden is lacking. Hence the present review tries to fill this lacuna by critically summarizing and discussing the above mentioned aspects.

Atropine and Scopolamine in Maize Products from the Retail Stores in the Republic of Serbia

The cereal grains, which represent the cultivated grasses fruits, supply almost half of the total caloric requirements for humans and provide more nourishment compared with any other class of the food. Out of many cereals used for food, maize, rice, and wheat are the most important food resources for humans, representing 94% of the total cereals consumption. According to the data of the Republic Institute of Statistics for the year 2018, the harvested areas of corn amount to 906,753 hectares. The production of about 7 million tons was achieved with an average yield of 7.7 t/ha according to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Serbia. Serbia is still among the ten largest exporters of wheat and corn in the world for the period of 2014/15–2017/18. More precisely, it ranks seventh in the export of corn. Utilization of maize products for food animal nutrition (1000 t) is 491,48, and for industrial processing (1000 t) 278,862 expressed as the total consumption (1000 t) is 769,910. Therefore, a total of 103 samples of maize products were analyzed for the presence of toxins, i.e., tropane alkaloids (TAs). The samples were collected from the retail stores in the Republic of Serbia in 2021 and analyzed for the presence of atropine and scopolamine (33 corn grits, 39 polenta, and 31 semolina samples). Therefore, the Recommendation 2015/976/EU on the monitoring of TAs in food was adopted by the EU Commission to obtain more occurrence data on TAs in food. The monitoring extent, however, is restricted because reliable analytical methods and appropriate sensitivity are limited. There was a limit of 1 g/kg for each atropine and scopolamine in cereals containing millet, sorghum, buckwheat, or their derivatives. All the samples were analyzed by the LC-MS/MS. The LOQ was set at 1.0 μg/kg. Out of the total 103 tested samples, 32 samples (31.1%) were contaminated with atropine and scopolamine in concentrations above the LOQ. The highest concentrations of the studied TAs were observed in a semolina sample-atropine: 58.80 μg/kg, scopolamine: 10.20 μg/kg. The obtained results indicate that the TAs concentrations are above the LOQ which can be considered potential human and animal health hazards.

Establishing a Public Health Emergency Operations Center in an Outbreak-Prone Country: Lessons Learned in Uganda, January 2014 to December 2021

Uganda is highly vulnerable to public health emergencies (PHEs) due to its geographic location next to the Congo Basin epidemic hot spot, placement within multiple epidemic belts, high population growth rates, and refugee influx. In view of this, Uganda's Ministry of Health established the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (PHEOC) in September 2013, as a central coordination unit for all PHEs in the country. Uganda followed the World Health Organization's framework to establish the PHEOC, including establishing a steering committee, acquiring legal authority, developing emergency response plans, and developing a concept of operations. The same framework governs the PHEOC's daily activities. Between January 2014 and December 2021, Uganda's PHEOC coordinated response to 271 PHEs, hosted 207 emergency coordination meetings, trained all core staff in public health emergency management principles, participated in 21 simulation exercises, coordinated Uganda's Global Health Security Agenda activities, established 6 subnational PHEOCs, and strengthened the capacity of 7 countries in public health emergency management. In this article, we discuss the following lessons learned: PHEOCs are key in PHE coordination and thus mitigate the associated adverse impacts; although the functions of a PHEOC may be legalized by the existence of a National Institute of Public Health, their establishment may precede formally securing the legal framework; staff may learn public health emergency management principles on the job; involvement of leaders and health partners is crucial to the success of a public health emergency management program; subnational PHEOCs are resourceful in mounting regional responses to PHEs; and service on the PHE Strategic Committee may be voluntary.

Simultaneous Determination of Pyrrolizidine and Tropane Alkaloids in Honey by Liquid Chromatography-mass Spectrometry

Introduction

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) and tropane alkaloids (TAs) are natural contaminants of honey and respectively hepatoxic and neurotoxic compounds. Because honey is a popular constituent of the human diet, it is relevant to warrant the safety of the product. For that reason, a method for simultaneous determination of PAs and TAs in honey based on liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry was developed.

Material and Methods

The analytical protocol used sulphuric acid extraction and solid-phase extraction purification. The developed procedure was subjected to validation in terms of linearity, selectivity, repeatability, reproducibility, limits of quantification and determination, matrix effect and uncertainty. A total of 29 honey samples were analysed for the determination of PAs and TAs.

Results

All the evaluated validation parameters fulfilled the requirements of European Commission Decision 2002/657/EC. At least one of the monitored alkaloids was determined in 52% of the samples. Among the most abundant alkaloids were echimidine, intermedine and lycopsamine. The total PA concentrations ranged from 2.2 to 147.0 μg kg^-1. Contrastingly, none of the monitored TAs was detected in the analysed samples. An assessment of the dietary exposure to PAs from the consumption of the contaminated honeys showed that three of them would pose a risk to consumers, especially if they were children.

Conclusion

A sensitive method suitable for simultaneous determination of PAs and TAs in honey was developed and validated. The analysis of 29 honey samples for PAs and TAs revealed that honey destined for retail could pose a risk to consumers.

Fate of Food-Relevant Toxic Plant Alkaloids during Food Processing or Storing and Analytical Strategies to Unveil Potential Transformation Products

Toxic plant alkaloids (TPAs) may contaminate food and pose a threat to consumer health; as a consequence, they are undesired in foodstuff or food commodities. Similar to other ingredients, TPA may be affected by storing or processing of food, often associated with decreased levels of the parent alkaloids. Up to now, little is known about potential transformation products or if they still may exhibit toxic potential to consumers. This perspective briefly summarizes the current knowledge regarding the behavior of opium, pyrrolizidine, and tropane alkaloids toward processing or storing and highlights analytical strategies to identify and elucidate potential transformation products.

Mesostructured Silicas as Cation-Exchange Sorbents in Packed or Dispersive Solid Phase Extraction for the Determination of Tropane Alkaloids in Culinary Aromatics Herbs by HPLC-MS/MS

In this work, Hexagonal Mesoporous Silica (HMS) and Santa Barbara Amorphous-15 (SBA-15) mesostructured silicas were synthesized and functionalized with sulfonic acid groups. The materials (HMS-SO3− and SBA-15-SO3−) were evaluated as strong cation exchange sorbents for sample extract clean-up, by solid phase extraction (SPE) and dispersive solid phase extraction, to determine atropine (At) and scopolamine (Sc) in commercial culinary aromatic herbs. Under optimized conditions, 0.25 g of sample was subject to solid−liquid extraction with acidified water (pH 1.0), and good recovery percentages were achieved for At and Sc using 75 mg of HMS-SO3− in SPE as the clean-up stage, prior to their determination by HPLC-MS/MS. The proposed method was validated in a thyme sample showing recoveries in the range of 70−92%, good linearity (R2 > 0.999), adequate precision (RSD ≤ 14%) and low limits (MDL 0.8−2.2 µg/kg and MQL 2.6−7.2 µg/kg for both analytes). Sixteen aromatic herbs samples (dried thyme, basil and coriander leaves) were analysed and At was found in fourteen samples over an interval of <5−42 μg/kg, whereas Sc was found in three of the sixteen samples studied (between <5−34 μg/kg). The amount of At and Sc found in some analysed samples confirms the importance of setting maximum levels of At and Sc in culinary aromatic herbs.

Occurrence and Chemistry of Tropane Alkaloids in Foods, with a Focus on Sample Analysis Methods: A Review on Recent Trends and Technological Advances

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are natural toxins produced by different plants, mainly from the Solanaceae family. The interest in TAs analysis is due to the serious cases of poisoning that are produced due to the presence of TA-producing plants in a variety of foods. For this reason, in recent years, different analytical methods have been reported for their control. However, the complexity of the matrices makes the sample preparation a critical step for this task. Therefore, this review has focused on (a) collecting the available data in relation to the occurrence of TAs in foods for human consumption and (b) providing the state of the art in food sample preparation (from 2015 to today). Regarding the different food categories, cereals and related products and teas and herbal teas have been the most analyzed. Solid–liquid extraction is still the technique most widely used for sample preparation, although other extraction and purification techniques such as solid-phase extraction or QuEChERS procedure, based on the use of sorbents for extract or clean-up step, are being applied since they allow cleaner extracts. On the other hand, new materials (molecularly imprinted polymers, mesostructured silica-based materials, metal–organic frameworks) are emerging as sorbents to develop effective extraction and purification methods that allow lower limits and matrix effects, being a future trend for the analysis of TAs.

Emerging tropane alkaloid contaminations under climate change

Climate-driven invasions of toxin-producing plants compromise human health, food safety, and food security. A recent poisoning that involved cereal products distributed by the World Food Programme revealed contamination with tropane alkaloids from seeds of invasive common thorn-apple. With continued global change, plant toxin contaminations could become a more widespread phenomenon.