Sains Malaysiana 52(10)(2023): 2889-2906

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2023-5210-12

 

Evaluation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Moringa oleifera Leaves and Infusion

(Penilaian Hidrokarbon Aromatik Polisiklik (PAHs) pada Daun dan Infusi Moringa oleifera)

 

AZRINA AZIZ1, KHAIRIAH ABD KARIM1,*, MOHD AZMIER AHMAD1 & MOHAMAD JEMAIN MOHAMAD RIDHWAN2

 

1School of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, 14300

Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia

2Pharmacy Program, Malaysian Ministry of Health Sultan Azlan Shah Training Institute, 31250 Ulu Kinta, Perak, Malaysia

 

Received: 27 January 2022/Accepted: 13 October 2023

 

Abstract

Moringa oleifera  infusion is a popular drink among herbal infusion consumers. Although M. oleiferais claimed to have medicinal value and promoted health benefits, it does not be simply considered safe if no specific study is conducted to determine Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) content in commercial M. oleifera herbal drink. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate 10 PAHs content in M. oleiferadried leaves and in its infusion. The second objective  was to assess the effect of mass-volume ratio on PAHs content in M. oleifera infusion. PAHs extraction procedure was performed using QuEChERS (Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe) method. PAHs determination and quantification were performed using Gas Chromatography and Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID). The mean of total 10 PAHs (∑10PAH) in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion ranged from 1.06 µg/kg to 5.51 µg/kg and 0.62 µg/kg to 4.80 µg/kg, respectively. Four different mass-volume ratios were used in this study to determine PAHs content that could be extracted from M. oleifera dried leaves into an infusion; 2:250, 20:250, 10:100, and 10:50. The ratio of 2:250 showed the lowest PAHs content in comparison with other ratios. The PAHs content in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion have statistically significantly different (p > 0.01) from each other. The toxic equivalency quotient (TEQ) value of M. oleifera dried leaves and infusion ranged from 0.01 to 0.09 and 0.00 to 0.07, respectively. PAHs content in M. oleifera dried leaves and infusions complied with the maximum limit set by Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2015/1933.

 

Keywords: Herbal infusion; Moringa oleifera; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; QuEChERS; toxic equivalency

 

Abstrak

Infusi Moringa oleifera adalah minuman popular dalam kalangan penggemar infusi herba. Walaupun M. oleiferadidakwa mempunyai nilai perubatan dan manfaat kesihatan, ia tidak sepatutnya dianggap selamat jika tiada kajian khusus dijalankan untuk menentukan kandungan hidrokarbon aromatik polisiklik (PAH) dalam minumaan herba M. oleiferakomersial. Oleh itu, penyelidikan ini dijalankan untuk mengkaji kandungan 10 PAH dalam daun kering M. oleifera dan infusinya. Objektif kajian yang kedua adalah untuk menilai kesan nisbah jisim-isi padu ke atas kandungan PAH dalam infusi M. oleifera. Prosedur pengekstrakan PAH dilakukan menggunakan kaedah QuEChERS (Cepat, Mudah, Murah, Berkesan, Lasak dan Selamat). Penentuan dan kuantifikasi PAH dilakukan menggunakan Kromatografi Gas dan Pengesan Pengionan Nyalaan (GC-FID). Purata jumlah 10 PAH (∑10PAH) dalam daun kering dan infusi M. oleifera  masing-masing dalam julat antara 1.06 µg/kg hingga 5.51 µg/kg dan 0.62 µg/kg hingga 4.80 µg/kg. Empat nisbah jisim isi padu berbeza telah digunakan dalam kajian ini untuk menentukan kandungan PAH yang boleh diekstrak daripada daun kering M. oleifera  ke dalam infusinya; 2:250, 20:250, 10:100 dan 10:50. Nisbah 2:250 menunjukkan kandungan PAH yang paling rendah berbanding nisbah lain. Kandungan PAH dalam daun kering dan infusi herba mempunyai perbezaan yang ketara secara statistik (p > 0.01) antara satu sama lain. Nilai TEQ daun kering dan infusi herba masing-masing dalam julat antara 0.01 hingga 0.09 dan 0.00 hingga 0.07. Kandungan PAH dalam daun kering dan infusi M. oleifera mematuhi had maksimum yang ditetapkan oleh Peraturan Suruhanjaya (EU) No. 2015/1933.

 

Kata kunci: Hidrokarbon polisiklik aromatik; infusi; kesetaraan toksik; M. oleifera; QuEChERS

 

References

Abdel-Shafy, H.I. & Mansour, M.S.M. 2016. A review on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Source, environmental impact, effect on human health and remediation. Egyptian Journal of Petroleum 25(1): 107-123.

Bratu, M.M., Birghila, S., Coatu, V., Danilov, D.A., Radu, M.D. & Birghila, C. 2022. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in some commercial herbal teas. Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 43(3): 2269-2282.

Chauhan, C. & Namdev, S. 2022. Investigation on the comparative antioxidant potential of Moringa oleifera and Moringa stenopetala in their commercial products of leaves. Materials Today: Proceedings 68: 1044-1050.

Ciemniak, A., Kuźmicz, K., Rajkowska-Myśliwiec, M. & Cadena, M.F. 2019. Assessing the contamination levels of dried teas and their infusions by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Journal Fur Verbraucherschutz Und Lebensmittelsicherheit 14(3): 263-274.

Commission, T.E. 2015. Commission regulation (EU) 2015/1933 of 27 October 2015. Commission Regulation (EU) 2015/1933 of 27 October 2015 58(1881): 11-14.

Dalhoumi, W., Guesmi, F., Bouzidi, A., Akermi, S., Hfaiedh, N. & Saidi, I. 2022. Therapeutic strategies of Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) for stomach and forestomach ulceration induced by HCl/EtOH in rat model. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 29(6): 103284.

Fred-Ahmadu, O.H. & Benson, N.U. 2019. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurrence and toxicity in Camellia sinensis and herbal tea. Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 39(4): 38-393.

Givechev, I., Tanev, D. & Danalev, D. 2021. Development and validation of GC/MS method for simultaneous determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in pork meat matrix. Acta Chromatographica 33(1): 57-63.

Hamidi, E.N., Hajeb, P., Selamat, J. & Razis, A.F.A. 2016. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their bioaccessibility in meat: A tool for assessing human cancer risk. In Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 17(1): 15-23.

Hassan, M.A., Xu, T., Tian, Y., Zhong, Y., Ali, F.A.Z., Yang, X. & Lu, B. 2021. Health benefits and phenolic compounds of Moringa oleifera leaves: A comprehensive review. Phytomedicine 93: 153771.

Hodas, F., Zorzenon, M.R.T. & Milani, P.G. 2021. Moringa oleifera potential as a functional food and a natural food additive: A biochemical approach. Anais Da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias 93(suppl 4): e20210571.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). 2021. Agents Classified by the IARC Monographs. Volumes 1-129. https://monographs.iarc.who.int/agents-classified-by-the-iarc/

Iwegbue, C.M.A., Tesi, G.O., Bassey, F.I., Martincigh, B.S., Nwajei, G.E. & Ucheaga, C. 2016. Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water- and gin-based tea infusions of selected tea brands in Nigeria. Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 36(4): 564-586.

Jahurul, M.H.A., Jinap, S., Zaidul, I.S.M., Sahena, F., Farhadian, A. & Hajeb, P. 2013. Determination of fluoranthene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[a]pyrene in meat and fish products and their intake by Malaysian. Food Bioscience 1: 73-80.

Lin, D. & Zhu, L. 2004. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Pollution and source analysis of a black tea. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 52(26): 8268-8271.

Lin, D., Tu, Y. & Zhu, L. 2005. Concentrations and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in tea. Food and Chemical Toxicology 43(1): 41-48.

Maria, D. 2020. Assessment of the nutritional value of various teas infusions in terms of the macro- and trace elements content. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology 59: 126428.

Nanda, A., Mohapatra, Dr.B.B., Mahapatra, A.P.K., Mahapatra, A.P.K. & Mahapatra, A.P.K. 2021. Multiple comparison test by Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD): Do the confident level control type I error. International Journal of Statistics and Applied Mathematics 6(1): 59-65.

Nisbet, I.C.T. & LaGoy, P.K. 1992. Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 16(3): 290-300.

Pandey, A., Pandey, R.D., Tripathi, P., Gupta, P.P., Haider, J., Bhatt, S. & Singh, A.V. 2012. Moringa oleifera Lam.(Sahijan)-A plant with a plethora of diverse therapeutic benefits: An updated retrospection. Medicinal Aromatic Plants 1(1): 1000101.

Panzl, M.V., Almeida, J.M.S., Pedrozo-Peñafiel, M., Menchaca, D., Aucélio, R.Q. & Rodríguez-Haralambides, A. 2022. Evaluation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dried leaves of Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) and their extraction into infusions. Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds 43(2): 1575-1589.

Zachara, A., Gałkowska, D. & Juszczak, L. 2018. Contamination of tea and tea infusion with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 15(1): 45.

Ziani, B.E.C., Rached, W., Bachari, K., Alves, M.J., Calhelha, R.C., Barros, L. & Ferreira, I.C.F.R. 2019. Detailed chemical composition and functional properties of Ammodaucus leucotrichus Cross. & Dur. and Moringa oleifera Lamarck. Journal of Functional Foods 53: 237-247.

 

*Corresponding author; email: chkhairiah@usm.my

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

previous