Research Progress on Contamination Levels, Analytical Methods and Processing Effects of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids in Food

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are a class of natural toxins produced by plant secondary metabolism, of which unsaturated PAs and most pyrrolizidine alkaloid N-oxides (PANOs) have multiple toxic effects. These toxic components can be transmitted through food supplements or food chain to threaten human health. To date, PAs have been found to be widely present in a variety of food and agricultural products such as honey and tea, highlighting their occurrence as a concerning food safety issue. Therefore, this paper summarizes the contamination levels and possible contamination pathways of PAs in different matrices of different countries, and reviews the latest advances and development trends in pretreatment methods and analytical detection techniques or cooking preparation on the stability of PAs contaminants, aiming to provide warning and reference basis for the detection research, safety risk assessment and control of PAs in foods.