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Listen to this siteFriday 22 July 2005
This research project aims to assess the levels of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey produced by bees living in hives close to areas where ragwort or borage are growing.
Study Duration : June 2005 to July 2007
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are toxins that are produced naturally by some plants, including ragwort ( Senecio spp.) and borage ( Borago officinalis ). There is a potential for these toxins to be transferred to honey by pollinating bees, but information regarding the transfer of PAs from ragwort and borage to honey is limited. Ragwort honey initially tends to be very unpleasant and unlikely to be eaten, but is said to become more palatable over time. Information on the stability of PAs in such honeys during storage is lacking.
In order to update and extend the limited information regarding the transfer of PAs to honey, this study will place beehives on sites where borage or common ragwort are growing. Honey from these sites, as well as from control sites, will be collected and screened for the presence of PAs by a semi-quanitative liquid chromatography – mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method.
If PAs are found to be present in ragwort honeys, a storage trial will be conducted to assess the stability of PAs in these honeys over time.
Overall there was no statistically significant difference in PA profiles between ragwort and control honeys, although elevated levels of a PA were found in samples from one site. Increased PA levels were also found in ragwort honey collected from another site early in the production season, but these had fallen by the time honey would be harvested for consumption at the end of the season.
Because bees are thought to preferentially collect nectar from sources other than ragwort, hives had to be placed on sites where high amounts of ragwort were growing but other flora was sparse in order to ensure production of ragwort honey. Such conditions are very different to those used for honey production, and the lack of consistent PA contamination in honey collected from such extreme conditions led the researchers to suggest that it is unlikely honey produced in the UK could be contaminated with significant concentrations of ragwort PAs.
A PA that could be one of the isomeric borage PAs intermedine and lycopsamine was detected in some of the borage honey. Subsequent to completion of this study an analytical standard for lycopsamine has become available, and the Food Standards Agency plans to fund further research to quantify PA levels in borage honey.
In addition, the project's results, together with other available data regarding transfer of PAs to food, will be reviewed by the independent expert Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT). The views of the COT will support the Agency in determining whether there is a need to take action to protect consumers or to fund additional research
*The final report is available from the Agency’s Information Centre.
To obtain a copy, please contact the Enquiry Desk, Information Services, Food Standards Agency (tel: 020 7276 8181/8182 or email:
infocentre@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
)
For any enquiries concerning this research project, please contact the relevant Programme contact or email: science@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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