Table Of ContentAnalysis of Naturally Occurring
Food Toxins of Plant Origin
Natural toxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by living organisms.
These toxins are not harmful to the organisms themselves, but they may be toxic to other
creatures, including humans, when eaten. These chemical compounds have diverse
structures and differ in biological function and toxicity. Some toxins are produced by
plants as a natural defense mechanism against predators, insects, or microorganisms, or
as a consequence of infestation with microorganisms, such as mold, in response to climate
stress (such as drought or extreme humidity). Well-known groups of natural toxins of
plant origin are: cyanogenic glycosides, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, furocoumarins, lectins,
and glycoalkaloids. These plant-origin natural toxins can cause a variety of adverse health
effects and pose a serious health threat to both humans and livestock.
Analysis of Naturally Occurring Food Toxins of Plant Origin is divided into three
sections that provide a detailed overview of different classes of naturally occurring food
toxins of plant origin, including various analytical techniques exploited for their
structural characterization, identification, detection, and quantification. It provides in-
depth information and comprehensive discussion over different analytical techniques
utilized for qualitative and quantitative application purposes of natural toxins of plant
origin in food.
Key Features:
• Provides a detailed overview of different classes of plant-origin natural toxins in
food.
• Explains how IR, NMR, and mass spectrometry are utilized in characterization and
identification.
• Describes applicability of HPLC, LC-MS, GC-MS, and HPTLC techniques for de-
tection and quantification.
• Discusses progress in the field related to capillary electrophoresis, ELISA, and
biosensors for quantitative application of these techniques.
Food Analysis and Properties
Series Editor: Leo M. L. Nollet, University College Ghent, Belgium
This CRC series, Food Analysis and Properties, is designed to provide state-of-the-art coverage
on topics to the understanding of physical, chemical, and functional properties of foods,
including: (1) recent analysis techniques of a choice of food components; (2) developments and
evolutions in analysis techniques related to food; (3) recent trends in analysis techniques of
specific food components, and/or a group of related food components.
Ambient Mass Spectroscopy Techniques in Food and the Environment
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet and Basil K. Munjanja
Food Aroma Evolution: During Food Processing, Cooking and Aging
Edited by Matteo Bordiga and Leo M. L. Nollet
Mass Spectrometry Imaging in Food Analysis
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet
Proteomics for Food Authentication
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet, Otles, Semih
Analysis of Nanoplastics and Microplastics in Food
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet and Khwaja Salahuddin Siddiqi
Chiral Organic Pollutants: Monitoring and Characterization in Food and the Environment
Edited by Edmond Sanganyado, Basil Munjanja, and Leo M. L. Nollet
Sequencing Technologies in Microbial Food Safety and Quality
Edited by Devarajan Thangadurai, Leo M. L. Nollet, Saher Islam, and Jeyabalan Sangeetha
Nanoemulsions in Food Technology: Development, Characterization, and Applications
Edited by Javed Ahmad and Leo M. L. Nollet
Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet and Robert Winkler
Bioactive Peptides from Food: Sources, Analysis, and Functions
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet and Semih Ötleş
Nutriomics: Well-being through Nutrition
Edited by Devarajan Thangadurai, Saher Islam, Leo M. L. Nollet, and Juliana Bunmi Adetunji
Analysis of Naturally Occurring Food Toxins of Plant Origin
Edited by Leo M. L. Nollet and Javed Ahmad
For more information, please visit the series page: https://www.crcpress.com/Food-Analysis--
Properties/book-series/CRCFOODANPRO
Analysis of Naturally
Occurring Food Toxins
of Plant Origin
Edited by
Leo M. L. Nollet
Javed Ahmad
First edition published 2023
by CRC Press
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and by CRC Press
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© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Leo M. L. Nollet and Javed Ahmad; individual chapters, the
contributors
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ISBN: 978-1-032-08030-7 (hbk)
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DOI: 10.1201/9781003222194
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Contents
Preface vii
About the Editors ix
Contributors xi
SECTION I AN INTRODUCTION TO NATURALLY
OCCURRING FOOD TOXINS
Chapter 1 Naturally Occurring Food Toxins – An Overview 3
Leo M. L. Nollet and Javed Ahmad
Chapter 2 Cyanogenic Glycosides as Food Toxins 25
Michael Amoafo Mensah
Chapter 3 Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids as Food Toxins 53
Javed Ahamad, Mohd. Javed Naim, Subasini Uthirapathy,
and Showkat R. Mir
Chapter 4 Furanocoumarins and Lectins as Food Toxins 67
Kavita Munjal, Saima Amin, Showkat R. Mir,
Vinod Kumar Gauttam, and Sumeet Gupta
Chapter 5 Glycoalkaloids as Food Toxins 81
Javed Ahamad, Subasini Uthirapathy, Esra T. Anwer,
Mohd. Javed Naim, and Showkat R. Mir
SECTION II ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES EXPLOITED IN
STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION AND
IDENTIFICATION: QUALITATIVE APPLICATION
Chapter 6 Infrared Spectroscopy 97
Mohd. Javed Naim, Javed Ahamad, and Esra T. Anwer
Chapter 7 Mass Spectrometry in Analysis of Food Toxins 115
Mohd Javed Naim and Javed Ahamad
v
vi C o n t e n t s
Chapter 8 NMR in Analysis of Food Toxins 131
Naila H. Alkefai, Showkat R. Mir, Saima Amin, Javed Ahamad,
Kavita Munjal, and Vinod Kumar Gauttam
SECTION III ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES EXPLOITED
IN DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION:
QUANTITATIVE APPLICATION
Chapter 9 HPLC for Detection and Quantification of Food Toxins of
Plant Origin 143
Devarajan Thangadurai, D. Divya, Suraj S. Dabire,
Jeyabalan Sangeetha, Mahantesh Dodamani, Saher Islam,
Ravichandra Hospet, Simran Panigatti, Muniswamy David,
Zaira Zaman Chowdhury, and Vishal Ahuja
Chapter 10 Analytical Determination of Food Toxins of Plant Origin
Using LC-MS 161
Jeyabalan Sangeetha, D. Divya, Pavitra Chippalakatti,
Devarajan Thangadurai, Jarnain Naik, Saher Islam,
Ravichandra Hospet, Muniswamy David,
and Zaira Zaman Chowdhury
Chapter 11 Quantitative Determination of Food Toxins of Plant
Origin by GC-MS 179
Devarajan Thangadurai, D. Divya, Poojashree Nagappa Kunnur,
Saher Islam, P. Lokeshkumar, Jeyabalan Sangeetha,
Pavitra Chippalakatti, Ravichandra Hospet, Muniswamy David,
Zaira Zaman Chowdhury, Vishal Ahuja,
and Vedavyas Shivanand Chavan
Chapter 12 High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography 195
Semih Ötles and Vasfiye Hazal Özyurt
Chapter 13 Capillary Electrophoresis 201
Suraj Singh S. Rathod, Gagandeep Kaur, Neha Sharma,
Navneet Khurana, and Awanish Mishra
Chapter 14 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay 215
Ritam Bandopadhyay, Suraj Singh S. Rathod,
and Awanish Mishra
Chapter 15 Detection and Quantification of Food Toxins of Plant
Origin Using Biosensors 245
Saher Islam, Devarajan Thangadurai, and Ravichandra Hospet
Index 259
Preface
Natural toxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by living organisms.
These toxins are not harmful to the organisms themselves, but they may be toxic to other
creatures, including humans, when eaten. These chemical compounds have diverse
structures and differ in biological functions and toxicity.
Some toxins are produced by plants as a natural defense mechanism against
predators, insects, or microorganisms, or as consequence of infestation with
microorganisms, such as mold, or in response to climate stress (such as drought or
extreme humidity).
Natural toxins can cause a variety of adverse health effects and pose a serious health
threat to both humans and livestock. Some of these toxins are extremely potent.
Adverse health effects can be acute poisoning ranging from allergic reactions to severe
stomachache and diarrhea, and even death.
Long-term health consequences include effects on the immune, reproductive, or
nervous systems, and also cancer.
A scientific expert committee jointly arranged by WHO and the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (JECFA) is the international body responsible
for evaluating the health risk from natural toxins in food.
International standards and codes of practice to limit exposure to natural toxins from
certain foods are established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission, based on JECFA
assessments.
Well-known groups of natural toxins are:
• cyanogenic glycosides
• furocoumarins
• lectins
• glycoalkaloids
• pyrrolizidine alkaloids
Although many foods contain toxins as naturally occurring constituents or, are formed
as the result of handling or processing, the incidence of adverse reactions to food is
relatively low. The low incidence of adverse effects is the result of some pragmatic
solutions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory agencies
through their advice. Manufacturers have also played a role by setting limits on certain
substances and developing mitigation procedures for process-induced toxins. Regardless
of measures taken by regulators and food producers to protect consumers from natural
food toxins, consumption of small levels of these materials is unavoidable. Although
the risk for toxicity due to consumption of food toxins is quite low, there is always
vii
viii P r e f a c e
the possibility of toxicity due to contamination, overconsumption, allergy, or an
unpredictable idiosyncratic response.
The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of analysis and detection methods
of a number of the toxins present in some commonly consumed foods and, where
possible, detail the pros and cons of different analysis methods. These analysis techniques
include, HPLC, GC, MS, and IR. This list is by no means exhaustive.
This book is structured in three sections.
Section I is an introduction to five groups of naturally occurring food toxins:
cyanogenic glycosides, furocoumarins, lectins, glycoalkaloids, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids.
Section II details qualitative application aspects of analytical techniques exploited in
the structural characterization and identification of naturally occurring food toxins.
In Section III, the quantitative analytical techniques of detection and quantification of
these five groups of toxins are discussed.
Some topics are discussed only now and then and not in detail. These are natural
toxins present in foods of animal origin, toxins involving algae or from seafood sources,
toxins from poisonous mushrooms, and mycotoxins.
The editors wish to thank all contributors for their excellent work and appreciated
commitment.
“Decide. Commit. Succeed.”
Anonymous
Leo M. L. Nollet and Javed Ahmad
About the Editors
Leo M. L. Nollet earned an MS (1973) and PhD (1978) in biology
from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. He is an editor and
associate editor of numerous books. He edited for M. Dekker, New
York – now CRC Press of Taylor & Francis Publishing Group – the
first, second, and third editions of Food Analysis by HPLC and the
Handbook of Food Analysis. The last edition is a two-volume book.
Dr. Nollet also edited the Handbook of Water Analysis (first, second,
and third editions) and Chromatographic Analysis of the
Environment, third and fourth editions (CRC Press). With F.
Toldrá, he co-edited two books published in 2006, 2007, and 2017: Advanced
Technologies for Meat Processing (CRC Press) and Advances in Food Diagnostics
(Blackwell Publishing – now Wiley). With M. Poschl, he co-edited the book
Radionuclide Concentrations in Foods and the Environment, also published in 2006
(CRC Press). Dr. Nollet has also co-edited with Y. H. Hui and other colleagues on several
books: Handbook of Food Product Manufacturing (Wiley, 2007); Handbook of Food
Science, Technology, and Engineering (CRC Press, 2005); Food Biochemistry and Food
Processing (first and second editions; Blackwell Publishing – now Wiley – 2006 and
2012); and the Handbook of Fruits and Vegetable Flavors (Wiley, 2010). In addition, he
edited the Handbook of Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Quality, first and second editions
(Blackwell Publishing – now Wiley – 2007 and 2012). From 2008 to 2011, he published
five animal product–related volumes with F. Toldrá: Handbook of Muscle Foods
Analysis, Handbook of Processed Meats and Poultry Analysis, Handbook of Seafood
and Seafood Products Analysis, Handbook of Dairy Foods Analysis (second edition in
2021), and Handbook of Analysis of Edible Animal By-Products. Also, in 2011, with F.
Toldrá, he co-edited two volumes for CRC Press: Safety Analysis of Foods of Animal
Origin and Sensory Analysis of Foods of Animal Origin. In 2012, they published the
Handbook of Analysis of Active Compounds in Functional Foods. In a co-edition with
Hamir Rathore, Handbook of Pesticides: Methods of Pesticides Residues Analysis was
marketed in 2009; Pesticides: Evaluation of Environmental Pollution in 2012;
Biopesticides Handbook in 2015; and Green Pesticides Handbook: Essential Oils for
Pest Control in 2017. Other finished book projects include Food Allergens: Analysis,
Instrumentation, and Methods (with A. van Hengel; CRC Press, 2011) and Analysis of
Endocrine Compounds in Food (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011). Dr. Nollet’s recent projects
include Proteomics in Foods with F. Toldrá (Springer, 2013) and Transformation
Products of Emerging Contaminants in the Environment: Analysis, Processes,
Occurrence, Effects, and Risks with D. Lambropoulou (Wiley, 2014). In the series
Food Analysis and Properties, he edited (with C. Ruiz-Capillas) Flow Injection Analysis
of Food Additives (CRC Press, 2015) and Marine Microorganisms: Extraction and
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