Occurrence of Alkenylbenzenes in Plants: Flavours and Possibly Toxic Plant Metabolites

Alkenylbenzenes are naturally occurring secondary plant metabolites. While some of them are proven genotoxic carcinogens, other derivatives need further evaluation to clarify their toxicological properties. Furthermore, data on the occurrence of various alkenylbenzenes in plants, and especially in f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plants (Basel) 2023-05, Vol.12 (11), p.2075
Main Authors: Götz, Mario E, Eisenreich, Andreas, Frenzel, Janine, Sachse, Benjamin, Schäfer, Bernd
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alkenylbenzenes
Analysis
apiol
Berries
Beverages
Carcinogens
Chemical properties
Dietary supplements
Essences and essential oils
Essential oils
estragole
Fertilizer industry
Fertilizers
Flavoring essences
Flavors
Food
Food processing
Genotoxicity
Health risk assessment
Health risks
Herbs
Hydrocarbons
Ingredients
Materia medica, Vegetable
Metabolism
Metabolites
Methyl eugenol
methyleugenol
myristicin
Plant extracts
Plant metabolites
Processed foods
Review
Safrole
Seeds
Toxicology
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Summary:Alkenylbenzenes are naturally occurring secondary plant metabolites. While some of them are proven genotoxic carcinogens, other derivatives need further evaluation to clarify their toxicological properties. Furthermore, data on the occurrence of various alkenylbenzenes in plants, and especially in food products, are still limited. In this review, we tempt to give an overview of the occurrence of potentially toxic alkenylbenzenes in essential oils and extracts from plants used for flavoring purposes of foods. A focus is layed on widely known genotoxic alkenylbenzenes, such as safrole, methyleugenol, and estragole. However, essential oils and extracts that contain other alkenylbenzenes and are also often used for flavoring purposes are considered. This review may re-raise awareness of the need for quantitative occurrence data for alkenylbenzenes in certain plants but especially in final plant food supplements, processed foods, and flavored beverages as the basis for a more reliable exposure assessment of alkenylbenzenes in the future.
ISSN:2223-7747
2223-7747
DOI:10.3390/plants12112075