ABSTRACT
Blighia sapida, commonly known as the ackee, is a member of the Sapindaceae family. The tree is native to the forests of West Africa and was brought to the Caribbean and later Florida, where it is cultivated as an orchard crop in some areas. Arilli of the fruit are processed to make canned ackee in brine whereas the seeds, raphe and pods are discarded. Physiochemical studies were conducted on extracts of the seed. Qualitative analysis detected the presence of phenolics and reducing sugars. Aqueous extracts of the seeds (ASE) exhibited free radical scavenging activity and had an inhibitory concentration of 2.59 mg/mL. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry led to the identification of several metabolites including amino acids and fatty acids. Hypoglycin B was isolated utilizing ion exchange chromatography. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of hypoglycin B detected a band resonating at 3070 cm-1 which may be attributed to the methylenecyclopropane moiety of hypoglycin B. The seeds had a lipid content of 5.72 ± 0.25 % (w/w). The ackee seed oil (ASO) had a saponification value of 152.07 ± 37 and a carotenoid content of 23.7 ± 1.8 mg/kg. The ackee seeds are a source of bioactive components.
Subject(s)
Blighia , Hypoglycins , Blighia/chemistry , Hypoglycins/chemistry , Seeds/chemistry , Fruit/chemistry , Plant Extracts/metabolismABSTRACT
Ackee (Blighia sapida K. D. Koenig) is an exotic fruit widely consumed in the Caribbean countries. While there is extensive research on the presence of hypoglycin A, other bioactive compounds have not been studied. We identified and quantified the changes in bioactive molecules (total phenol, ascorbic acid, hypoglycin A, squalene, D: A-Friedooleanan-7-ol, (7.alpha.), and oleic acid), antioxidant potential, and volatile compounds during two stages of ripe. A clear reduction in hypoglycin A, ascorbic acid, and total polyphenols during the maturation process were observed. On the contrary, oleic acid, squalene, and D: A-Friedooleanan-7-ol, (7.alpha.) contents increased about 12, 12, and 13 times, respectively with advancing maturity. These bioactive molecules were positively correlated with radical scavenging (DDPH and ABTS). Solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis revealed more than 50 compounds with 3-penten-2-one and hexanal as the major compounds in the fully ripe stage. The results suggested that ripe ackee arilli could serve as an appreciable source of natural bioactive micro-constituents.
Subject(s)
Antioxidants/pharmacology , Blighia/chemistry , Fruit/chemistry , Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Hypoglycins/chemistry , Polyphenols/chemistry , Squalene/chemistryABSTRACT
Consumption of improperly ripened ackee ( Blighia sapida K.D. Koenig) often results in fatalities. The causal toxin, hypoglycin A, decreases in the edible arilli upon maturity; regulation of hypoglycin A in the arilli is thus critical. Hypoglycin B, also toxic, is confined to the seeds. Hypoglycins A and B were tracked in ackees grown in Jamaica over different maturity stages using RP-HPLC. Studies on the 'Butter' and 'Cheese' ackee varieties and across two different harvest seasons were conducted. In 'Cheese' ackees, hypoglycin A decreased from about 8000 mg/kg in the green arilli and seeds to 271 and 1451 mg/kg, respectively, in the ripe fruit whereas hypoglycin B levels in the seeds increased from 1629 to 11774 mg/kg. The strong inverse relationship demonstrated that hypoglycin B in the seeds serves as a sink for hypoglycin A from the ripening arilli and is thereby involved in the detoxification mechanism of the fruit.
Subject(s)
Blighia/chemistry , Hypoglycins/analysis , Inactivation, Metabolic , Blighia/physiology , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , SeasonsABSTRACT
Between 1998 and 2001 the deaths of 16 Surinamese children were recorded along the Maroni River, which forms the border between Suriname and French Guyana. After a metabolic origin was eliminated, ethnobotanical research in the field led to a hypothesis of intoxication through the ingestion of ackee. Ackee (Blighia sapida) is a large green leafy tree of West African origin. Its unripe fruit contains large quantities of two toxic molecules: hypoglycin-A and hypoglycin-B, the former being the more toxic. We have developed a GC-MS procedure allowing us to demonstrate the presence of hypoglycin-A in the gastric fluid of one of the deceased children, and to compare the content of hypoglycin-A in fruit collected on the road to Paramaribo in Suriname (5.1mg/g) with samples from Burkina Faso (8.1mg/g) and Jamaica (9.2mg/g). Field research showed the misuse of this little-known plant by Maroon witch doctors. The Bushinengue witch doctors were informed about the dangers of ackee, and no new cases have been reported to date.
Subject(s)
Blighia/poisoning , Hypoglycins/analysis , Child , Forensic Toxicology , French Guiana , Fruit/chemistry , Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Gastrointestinal Contents/chemistry , Humans , Hypoglycins/poisoning , Molecular Structure , Plant Poisoning/diagnosis , SurinameABSTRACT
The dipeptide hypoglycin B, one of two toxins of the ackee fruit (Blighia sapida Koenig), was characterized for the first time by NMR spectral data, which led to the discovery that it exists naturally as a pair of diastereomers. No distinction was observed in the (1)H NMR signals of the diastereomers; however, complete and distinct (13)C NMR assignments for the individual diastereomers were made. The (13)C NMR spectrum of hypoglycin B compared very well with that of the corresponding signals in the spectrum for hypoglycin A, which is one of its constituent amino acids. The (1)H and (13)C NMR assignments were further supported by DEPT, gCOSY, gHSQC and gHMBC experiments.
Subject(s)
Blighia/chemistry , Fruit/chemistry , Hypoglycins/chemistry , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy/methods , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Hypoglycins/classification , StereoisomerismSubject(s)
Blighia/poisoning , Fruit/poisoning , Hypoglycins/poisoning , Animals , Blighia/chemistry , Foodborne Diseases/diagnosis , Foodborne Diseases/therapy , Humans , Hypoglycins/analysis , Hypoglycins/toxicity , Jamaica , Plant Poisoning/diagnosis , Plant Poisoning/therapy , Vomiting/chemically inducedABSTRACT
Hypoglycin A, the toxin found in the ackee fruit, has been reported in the literature as the causative agent in incidences of acute toxicity termed Jamaican vomiting sickness or toxic hypoglycemic syndrome. Hypoglycin A toxicity in this study was determined by feeding male and female Sprague-Dawley rats a control diet and ackee diets that contained 4-3840 ppm of hypoglycin. The fixed dose method was used to quantify the acute toxic dose of hypoglycin A and was determined by feeding a diet consisting of the lowest hypoglycin A concentration; this was increased to the next highest dose after 24h until toxicity was observed. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of hypoglycin A was determined by feeding rats the ackee and control diets over a 30-day period. The acute toxic dose for male and female rats was 231.19+/-62.5 5mg hypoglycinA/kgBW and 215.99+/-63.33 mg hypoglycinA/kgBW, respectively. This was considerably greater than the dose of 100 mg hypoglycin/kgBW reported in a previous study when aqueous hypoglycin was administered orally. The MTD of hypoglycin A in both male and female rats was 1.50+/-0.07 mg hypoglycinA/kgBW/day. These findings suggest that the form in which hypoglycin in ackee is administered could affect the toxicological properties it exhibits. Therefore, for the purpose of a hazard assessment, it may be best administered within the matrix of the fruit, which is the form that humans consume it.
Subject(s)
Blighia/chemistry , Hypoglycins/toxicity , Animals , Blood Chemical Analysis , Body Weight/drug effects , Diet , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Fatty Acids/chemistry , Female , Fruit/chemistry , Hemorrhage/chemically induced , Hemorrhage/pathology , Hypoglycins/chemistry , Male , Rats , Rats, Sprague-DawleyABSTRACT
Fuente; preparado por el Dr. José Moya de la Representación OPS/OMS en Haití
Subject(s)
Hypoglycins , Plant Poisoning , HaitiABSTRACT
Source: prepared by Dr. José Moya of the PAHO/WHO Representation in Haiti
Subject(s)
Hypoglycins , Plant Poisoning , HaitiABSTRACT
Fuente; preparado por el Dr. José Moya de la Representación OPS/OMS en Haití
Subject(s)
Hypoglycins , Plant Poisoning , HaitiABSTRACT
Source: prepared by Dr. José Moya of the PAHO/WHO Representation in Haiti
Subject(s)
Hypoglycins , Plant Poisoning , HaitiSubject(s)
Cyclopropanes/pharmacology , Hypoglycins/pharmacology , Oxidoreductases Acting on CH-CH Group Donors , Vomiting/etiology , Fatty Acid Desaturases/antagonists & inhibitors , Fatty Acids/blood , Fatty Acids/urine , Humans , Hypoglycins/urine , Isovaleryl-CoA Dehydrogenase , Jamaica , Oxidoreductases/antagonists & inhibitors , Vomiting/metabolismABSTRACT
A recent review article concluded that glutamic acid probable plays a central role in the vomiting and neurological features of ackee poisoning. The present article draws attention to misconceptions in the basis of that hypothesis, and reviews important evidence suppporting a different role (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Blighia/poisoning , Cyclopropanes/poisoning , Hypoglycins/poisoning , Plant Poisoning , Vomiting/chemically induced , Acidosis/chemically induced , Aspartic Acid/poisoning , Glutamates/poisoningABSTRACT
A recent article concluded that glutamic acid probably plays a central role in the vomiting and neurological features of ackee poisoning. The present article draws attention to misconceptions in the basis of that hypothesis, and reviews important evidence supporting a different view