Resource Apricot kernel or seeds

[annikae]

Guys... Or I am immortal or I don't know I red that if you eat 3 Apricot seeds (and I researched a lot about it) you are gonna die due to the high toxicity. I ate 9 seeds... Guess what. I swallowed some of them because they were too bitter. Was that the problem?

 

[Praestat_Mori]

1st) You don't know how much "active substance" they contain. That is an issue with any kind of plants that contain poison!

2nd) The seed don't contain pure KCN rather they contain Amygdalin (correct me if I'm wrong) and that is metabolized in the liver (or your stomach) into HCN (KCN) - BUT - and that is the point - your body starts fighting that poison once it is detected.

Afaik only babies and very young children would have a potential chance to die of such seeds. Grown up adult would need to eat a lot more to die from it. This isn't a medical advice but honestly, if those seeds were that poisonous the fruits that contain them would long be forbidden and not available anymore.

 

[annikae]

1st) You don't know how much "active substance" they contain. That is an issue with any kind of plants that contain poison!

2nd) The seed don't contain pure KCN rather they contain Amygdalin (correct me if I'm wrong) and that is metabolized in the liver (or your stomach) into HCN (KCN) - BUT - and that is the point - your body starts fighting that poison once it is detected.

Afaik only babies and very young children would have a potential chance to die of such seeds. Grown up adult would need to eat a lot more to die from it. This isn't a medical advice but honestly, if those seeds were that poisonous the fruits that contain them would long be forbidden and not available anymore.

1) indeed that's why I looked up on EFSA and it said that only three seeds would be lethal for adults and only one for children.

2) yes amygdalin

 

[Praestat_Mori]

1) indeed that's why I looked up on EFSA and it said that only three seeds would be lethal for adults and only one for children.

2) yes amygdalin

There are too many unknown factors and yes it's true they might be lethal but anyway it's unpleasant. Only 250 -300mg of pure cyanide will do the job 100% that would the way to go instead of trying with respective seeds.

 

[Soupster]

So, in the EFSA document, 3 kernels is the ARfD max (safe one off exposure). It says the ARfD is 25 times less than the lowest reported lethal dose. In short, 9 isnt likely to hurt you much either.

Edit: I do agree this is not a great method. Retailers of Apricot Seeds routinely suggest intake of 60 per day for cancer patients to treat symptoms of cancer. While that's a dubious claim, if that dose was regularly fatal there is no way the product would be readily available.

 

[nihilistic_dragon]

When I was a kid, my family made apricot jam and always put a handful of seeds in there (we were broke so that was for almond-ey taste without the almonds). I am pretty sure I ate more than three on many occasions and I am still here decades later lmao.

 

[Themogger]

You should probably find another method