Amygdalin in bitter and sweet seeds of apricots

Abstract

Hydrogen cyanide (HCN) poisoning due to amygdalin (AMY) in apricot seeds is one of the public health issues in Turkey. The aim of this study was to investigate the AMY content of 13 different apricot seeds including bitter and sweet ones, and which are either sulfurized or roasted. The AMY content was determined by a high-performance liquid chromatography. Release of HCN was predicted and total amount of seeds which can cause poisoning was calculated. The mean AMY content of bitter seeds was 26 ± 14 mg g⁻¹ and that of sweet seeds was 0.16 ± 0.09 mg g⁻¹. The consumption of small amounts of bitter seeds may cause cyanide poisoning.

Keywords:

• cyanide
• HPLC
• poisoning
• amygdalin
• apricot

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by Inönü University, Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Also authors want to say their special thanks to Prof. Dr Ali Adnan Hayaloglu for supplying some kind of apricot seeds.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.