Furocoumarin Content of Fennel-Below the Safety Threshold

Furocoumarins are known for their phototoxic and potential carcinogenic effects. These types of compounds have previously been reported from fennel ( Mill.), a widely used medicinal plant and spice; however, no reliable quantitative data are available on the occurrence of these compounds in fennel f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-08, Vol.24 (15), p.2844
Main Authors: Kerekes, Diána, Csorba, Attila, Gosztola, Beáta, Németh-Zámbori, Éva, Kiss, Tivadar, Csupor, Dezső
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
5-methoxypsoralene
Carcinogens
Consumption
Drug dosages
Experiments
fennel
Ficusin - chemistry
Ficusin - pharmacology
Foeniculum
Foeniculum - chemistry
Foeniculum vulgare
Fruit - chemistry
Fruits
Furanocoumarins
furocoumarin
Furocoumarins - chemistry
Furocoumarins - pharmacology
Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
Herbal medicine
imperatorin
Liquid chromatography
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Medicinal plants
Oils & fats
Plant Extracts - chemistry
Plant Extracts - pharmacology
psoralene
Risk assessment
Solvents
Tea
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Summary:Furocoumarins are known for their phototoxic and potential carcinogenic effects. These types of compounds have previously been reported from fennel ( Mill.), a widely used medicinal plant and spice; however, no reliable quantitative data are available on the occurrence of these compounds in fennel fruits. For the first time, we report a comprehensive analysis of fennel fruit samples of different origins, representing a wide range of accessions for their furocoumarin content. Psoralene, 5-methoxypsoralene (bergapten), and imperatorin contents of 33 fennel samples were analyzed using a sensitive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method. When applied at the highest therapeutic dose described in the monograph issued by the European Medicines Agency, the furocoumarin content of the fruits ranged up to 1.22 μg/d, which is below the most restrictive recommendations. Based on our findings, fennel consumption can be considered as safe, at least based on its low furocoumarin content.
ISSN:1420-3049
1420-3049
DOI:10.3390/molecules24152844