Bongkrek acid
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Bongkrek acid is a respiratory toxin more deadly than cyanide.[1]
It is produced in fermented coconut contaminated by the bacterium Burkholderia gladioli pathovar cocovenenans. In particular, it has been implicated in deaths resulting from eating the soybean and coconut-based product known as tempe bongkrèk , which is banned in Indonesia.
It is highly toxic because of its effect on the ATP-ADP translocase mechanism. It shuts this system down, preventing ATP from leaving the mitochondria and providing energy to the rest of the cell.
References
- ↑ Peter J. F. Henderson and Henry A. Lardy, "Bongkrekic acid: An Inhibitor of Adenine Nucleotide Translocase of Mitochondria", Journal of Biological Chemistry, (1970) 245, 6, 1319. Abstract, includes structure