TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - Fatal intoxication due to ackee (Blighia sapida) in Suriname and French Guyana. GC-MS detection and quantification of hypoglycin-A
JO  - Forensic science international
A1  - Gaillard, Yvan
A1  - Carlier, Jérémie
A1  - Berscht, Marc
A1  - Mazoyer, Cédric
A1  - Bevalot, Fabien
A1  - Guitton, Jérôme
A1  - Fanton, Laurent
SP  - e103
EP  - 7
VL  - 206
IS  - 1-3
N2  - Between 1998 and 2001 the deaths of 16 Surinamese children were recorded along the Maroni River, which forms the border between Suriname and French Guyana. After a metabolic origin was eliminated, ethnobotanical research in the field led to a hypothesis of intoxication through the ingestion of ackee. Ackee (Blighia sapida) is a large green leafy tree of West African origin. Its unripe fruit contains large quantities of two toxic molecules: hypoglycin-A and hypoglycin-B, the former being the more toxic. We have developed a GC-MS procedure allowing us to demonstrate the presence of hypoglycin-A in the gastric fluid of one of the deceased children, and to compare the content of hypoglycin-A in fruit collected on the road to Paramaribo in Suriname (5.1mg/g) with samples from Burkina Faso (8.1mg/g) and Jamaica (9.2mg/g). Field research showed the misuse of this little-known plant by Maroon witch doctors. The Bushinengue witch doctors were informed about the dangers of ackee, and no new cases have been reported to date.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0379-0738
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.01.018
ID  - ref1
ER  -