Low cyanide exposure from consumption of cassava in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
✍ Scribed by Nicholas Mlingi; Maria Abrahamsson; Jonathan Yuen; Mehari Gebre-Medhin; Hans Rosling
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 60 KB
- Volume
- 6
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1056-9014
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✦ Synopsis
The extent of cyanide exposure from cassava consumption was studied in low income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Mean cyanogen levels in sun-dried root pieces called makopa was 9.4 (range 0±79) mg HCN equivalents kg À1 dry weight. The mean glucoside and hydrogen cyanide levels were 6.4 and 3.2 mg HCN equivalents kg À1 dry weight, respectively, while cyanohydrins were lower with a mean of 2.0 (range 0±27) equivalents kg À1 dry weight. Food frequency interviews with 193 schoolchildren revealed that 13% of the children consumed cassava stiff porridge in the previous week. Fried cassava pieces were consumed by 82% and boiled cassava pieces by 49% of the children. The urinary thiocyanate in these children was 36 AE 3 (mean AE SEM) mmol l À1 and mean urinary linamarin level was 18 AE 1 mmol l À1 , indicating low cyanide exposure. Multiple regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between urinary thiocyanate and consumption of boiled cassava pieces as well as between urinary linamarin levels and daily intake of fried cassava pieces.