Fruits With Bad Seeds

It’s true; some luscious and nutritious fruits have poisonous seeds.
For instance, apple seeds are poisonous. According to the American Medical Association’s Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants, eating too many apple seeds can be fatal. The toxin in them is cyanogenic glycoside a.k.a. cyanide.

What is a lethal dose?
Apple seeds from a single apple that are swallowed whole or chewed and eaten in such small quantities are harmless. A single case of fatal cyanide poisoning has been documented in an adult who chewed and swallowed a cup of apple seeds. Why? Unknown!

Since the cyanogenic glycosides in apple seeds must be hydrolyzed in the gastro enteric tract before cyanide is released, several hours may elapse before symptoms appear. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, vomiting, lethargy and profuse sweating.

Cyanosis is not inevitable. In severe intoxications, coma develops and may be accompanied by titanic convulsions, muscle flaccidity and incontinence. Conscious patients may require only gastric lavage (stomach pumped) to recover completely.

Children will be affected by a smaller amount of apple seeds than adults. According to Shirley Corriher’s book, CookWise, 15 apricot kernels, which also contain cyanide, can kill a child. Of course, it is best not to consume any apple seeds or apricot kernels. If you are juicing apples or cooking apples to make apple butter, it would be prudent to remove the seed pocket first.

Other bad seeds
Apple seeds – black seeds inside core pocket
Apricot kernels – the kernel inside the pit is poisonous
Cherries – the stone
Nectarine pits – kernel inside the pit
Peach pits – kernel inside the pit
Plums – the kernel inside the pit

Source: AMA Handbook of Poisonous & Injurious Plants by Dr. K. F. Lampe & M. A. McCann, Chicago, IL 1985.

 

 

 

 

Summer 2003
Hort Shorts | Hort Tips | Did You Know… | Did Winter Kill My Trees? | Unlocking the Medicinal Secrets in Plants | Herb of the Year 2003: Basil | Bug Bites: Carpenter Ants in Trees | Cybergarden Sites | Lawn Care Calendar | Tomatoes: Can, Freeze or Dry | Fruits With Bad Seeds | Trans Fat on the Food Label | Health & Household Tips

 

 

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