Cassava, Manihot

Until 1987, the (R)-PaHNL from almonds was the only HNL used as catalyst in the enantioselective preparation of cyanohydrins. Therefore, it was of great interest to get access to HNLs which catalyze the formation of (5 )-cyanohydrins. (5 )-SbHNL [EC 4.1.2.11], isolated from Sorghum bicolor, was the first HNL used for the preparation of (5 )-cyanohydrins. Since the substrate range of SbHNL is limited to aromatic and heteroaromatic aldehydes as substrates, other enzymes with (5 )-cyanoglycosides have been investigated as catalysts for the synthesis of (5 )-cyanohydrins. The (5 )-HNLs from cassava (Manihot esculenta, MeHNL) and from Hevea brasiliensis (HbHNL) proved to be highly promising candidates for the preparation of (5 )-cyanohydrins. Both MeHNL and HbHNL have been overexpressed successfully in Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris. 

Cassava, Manihot esculenta, roots, total cyanide (mg/kg FW) ... 

Dufour, D.L. 1988. Cyanide content of cassava (Manihot esculenta, Euphorbiaceae) cultivars used by Tukanoan indians in northwest Amazonia. Econ. Botany 42 255-266. 

ANDERSEN, M.D., M0LLER, B.L., Cytochromes P450 from Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) catalyzing the first steps in the biosynthesis of the cyanogenic glucosides linamarin and lotaustralin cloning, functional expression in Pichia pastoris and substrate specificity of the isolated recombinant enzymes, J. Biol. Chem., 2000,275, 1966-1975. 

Jackson LC. 1988. Behavioral effects of chronic sublethal dietary cyanide in an animal model Implications for humans consuming cassava (Manihot esculenta). Hum Biol 60 597-614. 

Kamalu BP. 1993. Pathological changes in growing dogs fed on a balanced cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) diet. BR J Nutr 69(3) 921-934. 

J. Hughes, Z. Keresztessy, K. Brown, S. Suhandono, M. A. Hughes, Genomic organization and structure of % hydroxynitrile lyase in cassava (Manihot esculenta Grantz). Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 1998, 356,107-115. 

Native HNLs from bitter almonds (Prunus amygdalus), cassava (Manihot escu-lenta), millet (Sorghum bicolor), and flax (Linum usitatissimum) were repeatedly used in the synthesis of chiral cyanohydrins [39, 41, 197]. Cyanohydrins are versatile building blocks in natural product synthesis, giving organic chemists the possibility of introducing all kinds of functional groups (Fig. 38) [198]. 

Ukpabi, U. J. (2006). Quality evaluation of meads produced with cassava (Manihot esculenta) floral honey under farm conditions in Nigeria. Tropical Subtropical Agroecosyst. 6,37-41. 

Horsfall Jnr M., Abia, A.A., and Spiff, A.I. 2003. Removal of Cu (II) and Zn (II) ions from waste water by cassava (Manihot esculenta Cranz) waste biomass. African Journal of Biotechnology, 2 360. ... 

Kamalu, B.P. (1995). The adverse effects of long-term cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) consumption. Int. J. Food. Sci. Nutr. 46 65-93. 

De Bruijn, G.H. (1973) The cyanogenic character of cassava (Manihot esculenta), in Chronic Cassava Toxicity (eds B. Nestel and R. MacIntyre). International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, pp. 43 8. 

Elias, M., Nambisan, B. and Sudhakaran, P.R. (1997) Catabolism of linamarin in cassava Manihot esculenta Crantz). Plant Sci., 126, 155-62. 

Hughes, J., de Carvalho, F.J.P and Hughes, M.A. (1994) Purification, characterization and cloning of a-hydroxynitrile lyase from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). Ardz. 

Hughes, M. A., Brown, K., Pancoro, A., Murray, B.S., Oxtoby, E. and Hughes, J. (1992) A molecular and biochemical analysis of the structure of the cyanogenic fj-glucosidase (linamarase) from cassava (Manihot esculenta Cranz). Arch. Biochem. Biophys., 295, 273-9. 

Joseph, T., Yeoh, H.-H. and Loh, C-S. (1999) Cyanogenesis in somatic embryos and plantlets of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). ]. Sci. Food Agric., 79,1071-4. 

Koch, B., Nielsen, V.S., Halkier, B.A. and Muller, B.L. (1992) The biosynthesis of cyanogenic glucosides in seedlings of cassava (Manihot esculenta Grantz). Arch. 

Nartey, R (1968) Studies on cassava, Manihot usitatissimun. Phytochemistry, 20, 1311-14. 

Siritunga, D. and Sayre, R. (2004) Engineering cyanogen synthesis and turnover in cassava Manihot esculenta). Plant Mol. Biol, 56, 661-9. 

Aregheore, E. M., Agunbiade, O. O. (1991). The toxic effects of cassava (manihot esculenta grantz) diets on humans A review. Veterinary and Human Toxicology, 33, 274-275. 

Since the formation of the secondary metabolites of the Monascus spp. is affected by cultivation conditions, Lee et al. (2006) used sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), potato Solanum tuberosum), cassava (Manihot esculenta), and dioscorea (Dioscorea batatas) as the substrates to identify the best choice for monacolin K production. The results showed that M. purpureus NTU 301, with dioscorea as the substrate, could produce monacolin K at 2584 mg/kg, which is 5.37 times more than that resulted when rice is used as the substrate. 

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