Natural Food Benefits: Apple Seed Contains the Cyanide

Apples are a popular and healthy fruit in the world. These nutritious fruits can turn into fatal. Yes, you heard it right. Apple contains a small, black seeds that are sometimes avoided owing to their bitter taste, however people might eat them accidentally or not hassle to spit them out. Apple seeds are capable of poisoning and inflicting death. It contains amygdalin, a substance that releases cyanide once it comes into contact with human digestive enzymes. Amygdalin contains cyanide and sugar that once eaten by the body gets regenerate into Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN). This cyanide will make you sick and might even kill you.

Does apple seeds releases enough cyanide to make you sick?

Apple seeds do contain a little quantity of cyanide, that could be a fatal poison, however, you’re protected against the poison by the hard seed coating. If you eat whole apple seeds, they go through your digestive system untouched. If you chew the seeds completely, you will be exposed to the chemicals within the seeds, however, the dose of poisons in an apple is small enough that your body will simply detoxify it.

Cyanide is deadly at a dose of about 1 mg per kg of body weight. On average, an apple seeds contains 0.49 mg of toxic compounds. The quantity of seeds per apple varies, however an apple with eight seeds, therefore, contains about 3.92 milligrams of cyanide. Someone weighing 70 kg would want to eat 143 seeds to reach the dose or about 18 whole apples.
Following table shows how many apple seeds you need to eat to risk death, relatively to your body.

Weight (pounds)	Weight (kg)	Apple seeds (grams)	Apple seeds (number)
120	54	114-3,178	163-4,538
140	64	133-3,705	190-5,294
160	73	153-4,235	217-6,049
170	77	162-4,500	229-6,428
200	91	190-5,293	271-7,567

How cyanide works?

Cyanide is notorious as one of the deadliest poisons with an extended history in mass suicide and chemical warfare. Cyanide works by intrusive with oxygen supply. And yes, with the exception of its chemical form its additionally found in seeds of some fruits including, apricots, cherries, plum, peaches, and apples. These seeds have a powerful protecting coating that seals the amygdalin within them. This sturdy protecting layer of seeds is resistant to the digestive juices.

Also See

Health Benefits of Apple

Conclusion

Apple peels and flesh are terribly healthy and cause no risks to your health. However, apple seeds contain amygdalin, a substance that releases cyanide into the blood once chewed and digestible. When comparing the number of cyanide present in apple seeds with the number required to induce death, apple seeds in small amounts don’t contain enough cyanide to cause damage. However, it's better to spit out seeds to avoid any potential problems.

Other Sources

Medicalnewstoday.com