Studies on the Effect of the Heat on the Neurotoxic Factor of Palmyrah Flour

Abstract

Previous reports state that the flour of palmyrah (Borassus flabellfer L), called odiyal, on heating at 80·C for 45 minutes caused removal of hepatotoxic and neurotoxic factors effectively, and that odiyal flour originated from Kalpitiya was more toxic to Wistar rats than odiyal flour from Jaffna. These studies show that the heating can cause loss of volatiles but there is apparently no toxic factor in the volatiles. GC-MS analysis shows that the decanoic acid (capric acid), undecanoic acid (hendecanoic acid), 2- butenedioic acid and their esters as main volatile compounds. No amines were present. Heating of Kalpitiya odiyal flour shows a decline in ninhydrin positives prominently those from the MPLC fractions from ethyl acetate to methanol. Kalpitiya odiyal flour unheat-treated had higher total amine concentration than that of Jaffna odiyal. Circumstancial evidence shows that the increased toxicity of Kalpitiya odiyal flour compared to Jaffna odiyal flour may be due to the kottakilangu (dried shoot of palmyra h) milling temperature (58- 60°C) for Kalpitiya flour and >80°C for Jaffna flour.