Transformation of paralytic shellfish toxins as demonstrated in scallop homogenates.

Toxins in shellfish, which are responsible for paralytic poisonings, undergo reductive transformation when incubated with the homogenate of various portions of the scallop, Placopecten magellanicus. The transformation includes the reductive elimination of O-sulfate groups, a change that is most evident in the locomotor tissue homogenates. The commercially important adductor muscles can also inactivate the toxins.