Bodi Dorina, Ronczka Stefan, Gottschalk Christoph, Behr Nastassja, Skibba Anne, Wagner Matthias, Lahrssen-Wiederholt Monika, Preiss-Weigert Angelika, These Anja
a Department Safety in the Food Chain , Federal Institute for Risk Assessment , Berlin , Germany.
Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2014;31(11):1886-95. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2014.964337. Epub 2014 Oct 9.
Honey was previously considered to be one of the main food sources of human pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) exposure in Europe. However, comprehensive analyses of honey and tea sampled in the Berlin retail market revealed unexpected high PA amounts in teas. This study comprised the analysis of 87 honey as well as 274 tea samples including black, green, rooibos, melissa, peppermint, chamomile, fennel, nettle, and mixed herbal tea or fruit tea. Total PA concentrations in tea ranged from < LOD to 5647 µg kg(-1), while a mean value of about 10 µg kg(-1) was found in honey samples. Additionally, herbal drugs were investigated to identify the source of PA in teas. Results suggest that PA in tea samples are most likely a contamination caused by co-harvesting of PA-producing plants. In some cases such as fennel, anise or caraway, it cannot be excluded that these plants are able to produce PA themselves.
在欧洲，蜂蜜曾被认为是人类吡咯里西啶生物碱（PA）暴露的主要食物来源之一。然而，对柏林零售市场采集的蜂蜜和茶叶进行的综合分析显示，茶叶中的PA含量出乎意料地高。本研究分析了87份蜂蜜以及274份茶叶样本，包括红茶、绿茶、路易波士茶、蜜蜂花、薄荷、洋甘菊、茴香、荨麻以及混合花草茶或水果茶。茶叶中PA的总浓度范围为低于检测限至5647微克/千克（-1），而蜂蜜样本中的平均值约为10微克/千克（-1）。此外，还对草药进行了调查以确定茶叶中PA的来源。结果表明，茶叶样本中的PA很可能是由与产生PA的植物共同收获造成的污染。在某些情况下，如茴香、茴芹或香菜，不能排除这些植物自身能够产生PA的可能性。
