Vicine (Vic)

Vicine is an alkaloid glycoside found in fava beans. Vicine is toxic, causing the disease favism, in individuals who have a hereditary loss of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Divicine is the name of the aglycone of vicine. Fava beans also contain the related 6-hydroxy- alkaloid glycoside covicine, whose aglycone is isouramil. The toxic glycosides vicine and convicine which are present in fababeans have been implicated in favism, an anaemic disease of humans. Vicine and convicine concentrations are reduced by growth of Lactobacillus plantarum on fababean suspensions. The glycosides are eliminated from the fababean substrate by the growth of the filamentous fungus Fusarium graminearum. Incubation of fababean suspension with concentrated culture filtrate of Aspergillus oryzae, induced for extracellular beta-glucosidase production, results in complete degradation of the glycosides.