Cassava Flour: Quantification of Cyanide Content

Abstract

Cassava flours are obtained from the roots of Manihot esculenta Crantz and daily fairly consumed by the Brazilian population considering it comes to hum food, and also inserted into food baskets, besides to present low cost and easy access, in addition to being plant easily cultivated by the population. However, the food obtained with cassava may contain hydrocyanic acid, in the form of cyanogenic glycoside when those meals are not cooked properly. The oral toxicity can range 30 - 210 mg/kg body, the average daily consumption per capita in larger rural areas than in urban areas for cassava flour 19.1 g against 4.7 g, respectively. Brazil’s North and Northeast have higher consumption of cassava flour, associated with family monthly monetary income, making this region more vulnerable to poisoning. The objective of this study was to quantify cyanogenic glycosides present in some types of Brazilian cassava foods by means of spectrophotometric technique (reading at a wavelength of 530 nm). For quantitative determination of cyanide content, linamarase hydrolysis was used. The amount of cyanide was determined, and results were: artisan toasted cassava flour: 15 mg/500g, sweet cassava starch: 32.5 mg/500g, artisan dried cassava flour: 37.5 mg/500g, “bijuzada” cassava flour: 60 mg/500g, industrialized, toasted cassava flour: 115 mg/500g, industrialized, raw cassava flour: 140 mg/500g, and wet cassava flour: 225 mg/500g. Considering the chronic ingestion of cyanide present in these foods, they can cause public health problems.