Metabolism of aflatoxin B1 by Petroselinum crispum (parsley).

On administration of aflatoxin B1 to whole parsley (Petroselinum crispum) plants, a derivative was formed, which was shown to be aflatoxicol by its chromatographic properties and mass spectrometry. Optimum conditions for the production of the derivative was on the second day after administration of the toxin to the plants, which were 90 days old after germination. Cell-free preparations of parsley were found not to produce aflatoxicol A from added aflatoxin B1; instead they formed two new derivatives, which from chromatographic properties, were shown to be more polar than either aflatoxin B1 or aflatoxicol A.