Occurrence and Chemistry of Tropane Alkaloids in Foods, with a Focus on Sample Analysis Methods: A Review on Recent Trends and Technological Advances

Abstract

Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are natural toxins produced by different plants, mainly from the Solanaceae family. The interest in TAs analysis is due to the serious cases of poisoning that are produced due to the presence of TA-producing plants in a variety of foods. For this reason, in recent years, different analytical methods have been reported for their control. However, the complexity of the matrices makes the sample preparation a critical step for this task. Therefore, this review has focused on (a) collecting the available data in relation to the occurrence of TAs in foods for human consumption and (b) providing the state of the art in food sample preparation (from 2015 to today). Regarding the different food categories, cereals and related products and teas and herbal teas have been the most analyzed. Solid–liquid extraction is still the technique most widely used for sample preparation, although other extraction and purification techniques such as solid-phase extraction or QuEChERS procedure, based on the use of sorbents for extract or clean-up step, are being applied since they allow cleaner extracts. On the other hand, new materials (molecularly imprinted polymers, mesostructured silica-based materials, metal–organic frameworks) are emerging as sorbents to develop effective extraction and purification methods that allow lower limits and matrix effects, being a future trend for the analysis of TAs.

A sensitive LC–MS/MS method for isomer separation and quantitative determination of 51 pyrrolizidine alkaloids and two tropane alkaloids in cow’s milk

“…Hence, multi-analyte methods should be applied for analysis. Current LC-MS/MS methods for PA/PANO or TA analysis in several foods have been reviewed recently by Casado et al and González-Gómez et al [27,28].…”

Evaluation of Thermal Degradation of Tropane and Opium Alkaloids in Gluten-Free Corn Breadsticks Samples Contaminated with Stramonium Seeds and Baked with Poppy Seeds under Different Conditions

“…Buckwheat flour and other gluten-free flours (i.e., corn, rice, millet, amaranth, among others) are used as substitutes for wheat flour in the production of bread, cakes, biscuits, pasta, and snacks. These gluten-free foods have gained great popularity in the last years, especially in the celiac community [ 5 ]. In addition, one of the current trends in the preparation of bakery products is the addition of other ingredients, such as seeds.…”

Mesostructured Silicas as Cation-Exchange Sorbents in Packed or Dispersive Solid Phase Extraction for the Determination of Tropane Alkaloids in Culinary Aromatics Herbs by HPLC-MS/MS

“…Tropane alkaloids (TAs) are secondary metabolites produced by different families of plants, mainly appearing in the Solanaceae family [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. In particular, tropane-containing plants such as Atropa, Datura and Hyoscyamus are the main ones responsible for food contamination by these toxins.…”

“…This is because they grow easily as weeds in crops of different plant foods. In addition, these alkaloids are found in all parts of the TAs-producing plants, seeds, leaves, roots and flowers, and cross contamination with the crops is usual, due to fast and mechanical harvesting [ 12 ]. For example, leaves of D. stramonium (jimsonweed or thorn apple) and A. belladonna (deadly nightshade) can be mistaken for leaves of other plants that are used to prepare salads or to make tea (for example mallow) due to physical resemblances [ 13 ].…”

“…Currently, trends in analytical chemistry highlight the evaluation of new materials in the sample preparation stage [ 12 , 27 , 28 ]. For example, the application of mesostructured silicas as new sorbents has been increased recently for food sample preparation, due to the advantages that they offer in terms of their textural characteristics, such as ordered structure with controlled pore size, large specific surface area and pore volume.…”