Coumarins in Food and Methods of Their Determination - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

Coumarins in Food and Methods of Their Determination

Mirjana Lončar et al. Foods. 2020.

Abstract

Coumarin is a natural product with aromatic and fragrant characteristics, widespread in the entire plant kingdom. It is found in different plant sources such as vegetables, spices, fruits, and medicinal plants including all parts of the plants-fruits, roots, stems and leaves. Coumarin is found in high concentrations in certain types of cinnamon, which is one of the most frequent sources for human exposure to this substance. However, human exposure to coumarin has not been strictly determined, since there are no systematic measurements of consumption of cinnamon-containing foods. The addition of pure coumarin to foods is not allowed, since large amounts of coumarin can be hepatotoxic. However, according to the new European aroma law, coumarin may be present in foods only naturally or as a flavoring obtained from natural raw materials (as is the case with cinnamon). In this paper, the overview of the current European regulations on coumarin levels in food is presented, along with the most common coumarin food sources, with a special emphasis on cinnamon-containing food. Human exposure to coumarins in food is also reviewed, as well as the methods for determination and separation of coumarin and its derivatives in food.

Keywords: cinnamon; coumarin; coumarin-containing foods; determination of coumarin in food; human exposure to coumarin.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Six basic groups of natural coumarins: (a) simple coumarins; (b) furanocoumarins (linear type); (c) furanocoumarins (angular type); (d) benzocoumarins; (e) pyranocoumarins (linear type); (f) pyranocoumarins (angular type); (g) biscoumarins; (h) coumestans.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Önder A. Anticancer activity of natural coumarins for biological targets. Stud. Nat. Prod. Chem. 2020:85–109. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-817903-1.00003-6. - DOI
    1. Yahaya I., Seferoglu N., Seferoğlu Z. Improved one-pot synthetic conditions for synthesis of functionalized fluorescent coumarin-thiophene hybrids: Syntheses, DFT studies, photophysical and thermal properties. Tetrahedron. 2019:2143–2154. doi: 10.1016/j.tet.2019.02.034. - DOI
    1. Fitoz A., Nazır H., Özgür (nee Yakut) M., Emregül E., Emregül K.C. An experimental and theoretical approach towards understanding the inhibitive behavior of a nitrile substituted coumarin compound as an effective acidic media inhibitor. Corros. Sci. 2018;133:451–464. doi: 10.1016/j.corsci.2017.10.004. - DOI
    1. Yang Z., Kinoshita T., Tanida A., Sayama H., Morita A., Watanabe N. Analysis of coumarin and its glycosidically bound precursor in Japanese green tea having sweet-herbaceous odour. Food Chem. 2009;114:289–294. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2008.09.014. - DOI
    1. Wang Y.H., Avula B., Nanayakkara N.P.D., Zhao J., Khan I.A. Cassia cinnamon as a source of coumarin in cinnamon-flavored food and food supplements in the United States. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2013;61:4470–4476. doi: 10.1021/jf4005862. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources