Gynura sp. are widely cultivated in Taiwan for many purpose. G. bicolor is most commonly applied as a vegetable, and other species are also often cultivated for other medical purposes. Gynura sp. possess pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are notorious for hepatotoxicity. Plant foods, however, may contain numerous potential food safety problems. For above reasons, we intend to evaluate the toxicity of cultivated Gynura species and to clarify the edible safety.
Four major experiments were applied on the Gynura sp. in Taiwan. 1.Conduct a market survey of the taxon identification. 2.Applied LC-MS-MS to evaluate the composition and content. 3.Applied acute toxicity study (LD 50 study). 4.Applied 28-day feeding toxicity study.
From our market research, G. bicolor is the most common species found in Taiwan’s traditional market as a vegetable, however individual cultivated species for hypoglycemic purpose was found to be G. divaricate subsp. formosana. In the meantime, G.japonica, which was used as traditional Chinese medicine was not found during this research. Results from the 14-days acute toxicity study shows that there is no difference in all-cause mortality and motility in ICR mice experiments. No visceral enlargement phenomenon was observed during anatomical inspections.
The results of the experiments did not show any significant acute toxicity on G. bicolor or G. divaricate subsp. formosana till now. The 28-day feeding toxicity study is still under investigation, however. Large quantities and long term consumption of Gynura plants should be careful.
