FDA Regulations on Fresh, Canned, and Frozen Ackees Impacts the Development of the Ackee Market As the presence of
hypoglycin A content of pods and seeds of unripe ackees can lead to cause Jamaican vomiting sickness, the U.S.
A toxin called methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG, also known as
hypoglycin A) naturally present in litchi is said to be responsible for the deaths.
In a study published in Lancet, a panel of doctors who studied 390 children in Muzaffarpur found that the lychees that they ate contained the toxin
hypoglycin A, an amino acid that can disrupt metabolism and block the body's ability to produce enough blood sugar during the night.
A frequently fatal disease of horses, it thought to be caused by the ingestion of
hypoglycin A, a toxin contained in sycamore seed and seedlings.
In addition, because
hypoglycin A (HGA) and methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG) are suspected to be probable causes of similar outbreaks of acute encephalitis syndrome during litchi harvests in India and Bangladesh (12-16), we also tested serum samples for these toxins.
The immature fruit is toxic and should not be consumed due to the presence of a nonproteinogenic amino acid,
hypoglycin A [1].
Recent research showed it is caused by the toxin
hypoglycin A that is contained sycamore seeds.
*The serum levels of PSDP, lysoPCs, 3D, 7D, 11D-phytanic acid, behenic acid,
hypoglycin B, phytal and threoninyl-a-glutamate were significantly different between the active TB and lung cancer subgroups ( ?
In Muzaffarpur, MCPG is hypothesized to cause acute hypoglycemia and illness through a similar mechanism to
hypoglycin A, a toxin that has been reported to cause acute encephalopathy in the West Indies and West Africa after consumption of unripe ackee, a fruit in the same botanical family as litchi (6-9).
Hypoglycin A and B isolated from the fruits of Blighia sapida, which are chemically related to lysine were reported for their anti-hyperglycemic activity (Hassall and Reyle, 1954; Feng and Patrick, 1958).
The toxin is called
hypoglycin A and it is present, in varying concentrations, in the leaves and the helicopter-shaped seeds; there is evidence that the weather can affect the level of toxin produced by the tree and not all seeds contain the same level.