Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Does Borage Seed Oil contain PAs (Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids)?

Borage Oil does NOT contain detectable levels of PAs (Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids), because they are not co-extracted from the seed along with the oil. In the definitive study "Pyrrolizidine Alkaloid Content in Crude and Processed Borage Oil from Different Processing Stages" published in the highly reputable Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society [JAOCS, Vol. 80, no. 10 (2003)] it was stated:

"The pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of crude borage oil and borage oil from different processing stages was determined by GC-MS. The results showed that no pyrrolizidine alkaloids were present above a detection limit of 20 ppb. The reduction factors for pyrrolizidine alkaloids at various stages in the oil refining process were determined by means of spiking experiments using the commercially available pyrrolizidine alkaloid crotaline. It was shown that the pyrrolizidine content in crude borage oil was reduced overall by a factor of about 30,000 in the refining process."

Based on the scientific evidence, since manufacturers use refined borage seed oil their Borage Oil products would never be expected to contain any measurable PAs (at the current 20 parts-per-billion detection level).