Quinolizidine alkaloids in lupine flour and lupine products from the German retail market and risk assessment of the results regarding human health.

This study describes the analysis of five quinolizidine alkaloids (QA), i.e. 13-OH-lupanine, lupanine, lupinine, angustifoline and sparteine in 30 samples of lupine flours, lupine seeds and derived products collected 2019-2021 on the German retail market. QA occur as secondary metabolites in plants of lupine species. Certain QA are of toxicological relevance. The analytical determination performed by LC-MS/MS revealed some samples with high QA concentrations (up to 21,000 mg/kg), particularly in bitter lupine seeds. As those concentrations would result in substantial exceedances of the maximum tolerable intake values proposed by health authorities, they must be considered as a health concern.

Transfer of cannabinoids into the milk of dairy cows fed with industrial hemp could lead to Δ9-THC exposure that exceeds acute reference dose.

The industrial hemp sector is growing and, in recent years, has launched many novel hemp-derived products, including animal feed. It is, however, unclear to what extent individual cannabinoids from industrial hemp transfer from the feed into products of animal origin and whether they pose a risk for the consumer. Here we present the results of a feeding experiment with industrial hemp silage in dairy cows. Hemp feeding included changes in feed intake, milk yield, respiratory and heart rates, and behaviour. We combined liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based analyses and toxicokinetic computer modelling to estimate the transfer of several cannabinoids (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), Δ8-THC, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin, 11-OH-Δ9-THC, 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-THC, cannabidiol, cannabinol and cannabidivarin) from animal feed to milk. For Δ9-THC, which has a feed-to-milk transfer rate of 0.20% ± 0.03%, the acute reference dose for humans was exceeded in several consumer groups in exposure scenarios for milk and dairy product consumption when using industrial hemp to feed dairy cows.

Determination of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in tea and honey with automated SPE clean-up and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry.

For routine analytical purpose a method based on a combination of automated solid-phase extraction (SPE) clean-up and detection by Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography/Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) in various food commodities. In this survey, honey, tea and herbal infusion samples from local retailers collected in 2012-2015 were obtained and analysed for their PA content. PA concentrations were found in 30% of the honey samples and in 42% of the tea and herbal infusion samples with levels up to 595 µg/kg. The survey included 17 individual PA, and their sum is also reported for each sample.