A comprehensive review of flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum L.): health-affecting compounds, mechanism of toxicity, detoxification, anticancer and potential risk

Abstract

Flaxseed consumption (Linum usitatissimum L.) has increased due to its potential health benefits, such as protection against inflammation, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases. However, flaxseeds also contains various anti-nutritive and toxic compounds such as cyanogenic glycosides, and phytic acids etc. In this case, the long-term consumption of flaxseed may pose health risks due to these non-nutritional substances, which may be life threatening if consumed in high doses, although if appropriately utilized these may prevent/treat various diseases by preventing/inhibiting and or reversing the toxicity induced by other compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to remove or suppress the harmful and anti-nutritive effects of flaxseeds before these are utilized for large-scale as food for human consumption. Interestingly, the toxic compounds of flaxseed also undergoes biochemical detoxification in the body, transforming into less toxic or inactive forms like α-ketoglutarate cyanohydrin etc. However, such detoxification is also a challenge for the development, scalability, and real-time quantification of these bioactive substances. This review focuses on the health affecting composition of flaxseed, along with health benefits and potential toxicity of its components, detoxification methods and mechanisms with evidence supported by animal and human studies.

Keywords: Flaxseed consumption; anti-nutritional ingredients; anti-tumor activities; cyanogenic compounds; detoxification; potential risk.