Dear researchers
How can alkaloids heliotropin and europin be found in a yield of Mentha?Are these compounds occurring at the specific specie or there was a mistake during sampling,probably with the weed Heliotropium europaeum?
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) could easily occur in mentha samples by contamination, e.g. by accidental co-harvesting of a PA containing weeds that grow among the Mentha plants (few individuals per ha may suffice), or by airborne contamination with seeds (applies for Senecio spp.) and even by horizontal transfer (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308814616309621).
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) are a common contaminant in teas, herbs and even honey. Check out these papers:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2015.1086821
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2014.964337
and a good review:
'Pyrrolizidine alkaloids: occurrence, biology, and chemical synthesis' in Nat. Prod. Rep., 2017, 34, 62
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