Safety evaluation of certain food additives - ipcs inchem

ALKOXY-SUBSTITUTED ALLYLBENZENES 355
Table 1. Human intake estimate (per capita intake) of methoxy- and
methylenedioxy-substituted allylbenzenes from spices and spice oils
Methoxy- and
methylenedioxysubstituted
allylbenzene
Spice and spice oils, USA (Gavin et
al., 2007; United States
Department of Agriculture, 2007)
Total
annual
volume
(kg)
Per capita
intake of
substance a
(lower/
upper limit,
μg/day)
Per capita
intake of
substance a
(mean,
μg/day)
Nutmeg, mace and corresponding
essential oils, EU (International
Trade Centre, 2006)
Total
annual
volume
(kg)
Per capita
intake of
substance a
(lower/
upper limit,
μg/day)
Apiole (No. 1787) 1 033 1.5/10.1 2.84 NA NA NA
Elemicin (No.
1788)
17 653 3.4/173 29.9 31 955 4.3/274 42.6
Estragole (No.
1789)
Methyl eugenol
(No. 1790)
Myristicin (No.
1791)
Safrole (No.
1792)
52 126 19.7/510 166 NA NA NA
43 315 2.5/424 80.5 4 565 0.6/39 9.6
47 547 4.5/465 116.2 79 887 3/684 162
58 146 4/569 62.9 102 712 0.6/879 64
Per capita
intake of
substance a
(mean,
μg/day)
NA, not available.
a Intake (μg/person per day) calculated as follows: [(Total annual volume, kg) × (1 × 10 9 μg/
kg)]/[population × 365 days], where population = 320 × 10 6 for Europe and 280 × 10 6 for the
USA. The lower and upper limits and the mean values for per capita intake are based on
lower and upper limits and mean values for the percentage of volatile oil content in a spice
or herb product and the lower and upper limits and mean values for the percentage of
methoxy- and methylenedioxy-substituted allylbenzene within the volatile oil.
(elemicin and apiole) from all sources make a minor contribution to overall intake.
A conservative estimate of the average daily intake of any one of the alkoxysubstituted
allylbenzenes is less than 1 mg/day. For the four alkoxy-substituted
allylbenzenes with the highest production volume, intakes from spice sources
normally exceed intakes from spice oil sources by at least a factor of 10.
The methyl eugenol content of the volatile oil from commercial samples of
sweet and exotic (i.e. Reunion-type, as found in the Comoro Islands) basil is 0–0.5%
and 1.3–2.0%, respectively (Lawrence & Shu, 1993). The contents in the leaf,
flower and stem for the same cultivar of sweet basil were in the range of 0.6–2.4%,
with the highest concentration found in the leaf (Tsai & Sheen, 1987; Sheen et al.,
1991). The methyl eugenol content of sweet basil leaves of the Genovese Gigante
variety is inversely proportional to plant height (maturity); the content in the essential
oil of sweet basil decreased from essentially 100% to 10% as the plant matured