ascorbic-acid and anthracene

Plant contamination by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is crucial to food safety and human health. Enzyme inhibitors are commonly utilized in agriculture to control plant metabolism of organic components. This study revealed that the enzyme inhibitor ascorbic acid (AA) significantly reduced the activities of peroxidase (POD) and polyphenol oxidase (PPO), thus enhancing the potential risks of PAH contamination in tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.). POD and PPO enzymes in vitro effectively decomposed naphthalene (NAP), phenanthrene (PHE) and anthracene (ANT). The presence of AA reduced POD and PPO activities in plants, and thus was likely responsible for enhanced PAH accumulation in tall fescue. This conclusion is supported by the significantly enhanced uptake of PHE in plants in the presence of AA, and the positive correlation between enzyme inhibition efficiencies and the rates of metabolism of PHE in tall fescue roots. This study provides a new perspective, that the common application of enzyme inhibitors in agricultural production could increase the accumulation of organic contaminants in plants, hence enhancing risks to food safety and quality.

Topics: Anthracenes; Ascorbic Acid; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biological Transport; Catechol Oxidase; Enzyme Assays; Enzyme Inhibitors; Festuca; Kinetics; Naphthalenes; Peroxidase; Phenanthrenes; Plant Proteins; Plant Roots; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; Soil Pollutants

1. The main products of the metabolism of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene by rat-liver homogenates are the isomeric monohydroxymethyl derivatives. The syntheses of these compounds are described. 2. Two phenolic products and two dihydrodihydroxy compounds were formed, but none of these appeared to have been formed by hydroxylation at the ;K region'. There was little evidence for the formation of a glutathione conjugate of the hydrocarbon. 3. The monohydroxymethyl derivatives are products of the hydroxylation of the hydrocarbon in the ascorbic acid-Fe(2+)-oxygen model hydroxylating system.

Topics: Anthracenes; Ascorbic Acid; Benz(a)Anthracenes; Chemistry Techniques, Analytical; Chromatography; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Glutathione; Hydroxylation; Liver; Metabolism; Polycyclic Compounds; Rats; Research