THEORY OF OBJECTS . ARTICLE 21. NATIVE (NATURAL) TOXICANTS: ORIGIN, MECHANISMS, THRESHOLDS AND WAYS TO REDUCE

This article opens the block of toxicological works of the cycle (Articles 21–23) and is devoted to native (natural) toxicants, i.e. chemical compounds that are synthesized in food by the source organism itself (plant, fungus, animal or microorganism) as part of its biology. Unlike technological toxicants (Article 22) and external contaminants (Article 23), native toxicants are not pollutants from the outside: they are inherent in food raw materials and perform protective, signaling or metabolic functions in the source body. The article systematizes the main classes of native toxicants: glycoalkaloids, lectins, cyanogenic glycosides, glucosinolates, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, phytoestrogens, protease inhibitors, mycotoxins, fungal toxins, and bacterial toxins. For each class, the origin, mechanism of action, toxicity thresholds, culinary and technological methods of reduction are described. Particular attention is paid to the dual nature of many native toxicants: in some concentrations they exhibit toxic properties, in others they exhibit beneficial properties (antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial). It is shown that native toxicants are the scientific basis for calculating the toxicity index (IT) and are taken into account in the methodology described in Article 25.