Zinc‐deficient sprouting blight potatoes and their possible relation with neural tube defects

Maternal nutritional zinc deficiency is blamed in the pathogenesis of neural tube defects. In animal and plant domains zinc is required for growth and development. The objective of the present study was to show that sprouting blighted potato tuber is zinc deficient. In five potato varieties, zinc was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry in wet‐ashed paired slices of edible potato tuber and in its peel, in blighted potato tuber and in its sprout. Zinc contents were measured as the mean ( ± SEM) and the following values were found, 0.388 ± 0.036, 0.623 ± 0.059, 0.550 ± 0.030 and 1.089 ± 0.181 mg per 100 g wet weight, respectively. In conclusion, we believe that long‐term consumption of zinc‐depleted, blight potato tuber by pregnant woman could be potentially teratogenic with the consequent birth of a baby with neural tube defects. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  W. B. Wright,et al.  Points of View: THE CASE FOR GERIATRICS , 1967 .

[2]  J. Renwick.  Hypothesis: anencephaly and spina bifida are usually preventable by avoidance of a specific but unidentified substance present in certain potato tubers. , 1972, British journal of preventive & social medicine.

[3]  L. Sever,et al.  Questions concerning the possible association of potatoes and neural-tube defects, and an alternative hypothesis relating to maternal growth and development. , 1973, Teratology.

[4]  A. Hewitt,et al.  Potato blight and anencephalus in Scotland. , 1973, British journal of preventive & social medicine.

[5]  J. Elwood,et al.  Associations between the Incidence of Neurological Malformations and Potato Blight Outbreaks over 50 Years in Ireland , 1973, Nature.

[6]  B. Field,et al.  Potato blight and neural-tube defects. , 1973, Lancet.

[7]  B. Macmahon,et al.  Potato blight and neural-tube defects. , 1973, Lancet.

[8]  J. Renwick,et al.  Potatoes and spina bifida. , 1974, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine.

[9]  D. Glebatis,et al.  Human potato consumption and neural-tube malformation. , 1974, Teratology.

[10]  N. Nevin,et al.  Potato avoidance during pregnancy in women with a previous infant with either anencephaly and/or spina bifida. , 1975, British journal of preventive & social medicine.

[11]  R. Keeler,et al.  Congenital deformities produced in hamsters by potato sprouts. , 1978, Teratology.

[12]  A. Çavdar,et al.  Zinc deficiency and anencephaly in Turkey. , 1980, Teratology.

[13]  B. Borman,et al.  Fallacies of international and national comparisons of disease occurrence in the epidemiology of neural tube defects. , 1990, Teratology.

[14]  A. Czeizel.  Prevention of congenital abnormalities by periconceptional multivitamin supplementation. , 1993, BMJ.

[15]  Wang Xg.  Teratogenic effect of potato glycoalkaloids , 1993 .

[16]  T. Sheldon,et al.  Investigation of factors influencing folate status in women who have had a neural tube defect‐affected infant , 1993, British journal of obstetrics and gynaecology.

[17]  M. Levene,et al.  The methylfolate axis in neural tube defects: in vitro characterisation and clinical investigation. , 1994, Biochemical medicine and metabolic biology.

[18]  F. Rébeillé,et al.  Mitochondria Are a Major Site for Folate and Thymidylate Synthesis in Plants (*) , 1996, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[19]  M. J. González,et al.  Folate supplementation and neural tube defects: a review of a public health issue. , 1997, Puerto Rico health sciences journal.

[20]  A. Çavdar,et al.  Serum zinc, selenium, copper, and lead levels in women with second-trimester induced abortion resulting from neural tube defects , 2004, Biological Trace Element Research.