Quinolizidine alkaloids in lupine flour and lupine products from the German retail market and risk assessment of the results regarding human health

This study describes the analysis of five quinolizidine alkaloids (QA), i.e. 13-OH-lupanine, lupanine, lupinine, angustifoline and sparteine in 30 samples of lupine flours, lupine seeds and derived products collected 2019-2021 on the German retail market. QA occur as secondary metabolites in plants of lupine species. Certain QA are of toxicological relevance. The analytical determination performed by LC-MS/MS revealed some samples with high QA concentrations (up to 21,000 mg/kg), particularly in bitter lupine seeds. As those concentrations would result in substantial exceedances of the maximum tolerable intake values proposed by health authorities, they must be considered as a health concern.