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 (5.1. mg/g) with samples from Burkina Faso (8.1. mg/g) and Jamaica (9.2. mg/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. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Fatal intoxication due to ackee (Blighia sapida) in Suriname and French Guyana. GC-MS detection and quantification of hypoglycin-A / Gaillard, Y.; Carlier, J.; Berscht, M.; Mazoyer, C.; Bevalot, F.; Guitton, J.; Fanton, L.. - In: FORENSIC SCIENCE INTERNATIONAL. - ISSN 0379-0738. - 206:1-3(2011), pp. e103-e107. [10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.01.018]
Fatal intoxication due to ackee (Blighia sapida) in Suriname and French Guyana. GC-MS detection and quantification of hypoglycin-A
Carlier J.Secondo
;
2011-01-01
Abstract
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 (5.1. mg/g) with samples from Burkina Faso (8.1. mg/g) and Jamaica (9.2. mg/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. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
