ABSTRACT
Toxicology is concerned with biological effects characterized by distinct dose-response relationships. The presence of heat-labile toxic factors in plant products, mainly legume seeds, makes them unsuitable for human consumption unless they are properly cooked. Plant lectins have been found in a great variety of constituents of human diets. A thorough survey on the presence of lectins in commonly consumed foods in the United States was reported by Nachbar and Oppenheim. In cereal grains such as oats, barley, rice, rye, sorghum, and wheat, lectins are present mainly in the germ. Lectins were shown to interact with human intestinal hydrolases. Germ-free animals are better able to tolerate lectin-containing diets than conventional ones. An overgrowth or colonization of conform bacteria has been observed in the small intestines of experimental animals. The possible role of bean lectins in the ethyology of protein-energy malnutrition has been analyzed in a comprehensive paper by L. McPherson.
