Wednesday
Feb252009

Yummy Groceries

Image: a peach seed. Caption: Joey arrived home from the store with five peaches and one seed.

The seed shown is that of a peach (Prunus persica, formerly Persica vulgaris). The peach seed (or pit) contains amygdalin, a compound that gets broken down into cyanide by the enzymes in the human gut, so it's not a good idea to grind them up and eat them. Apple, cherry, and apricot seeds also contain amygdalin.

The image in the comic is based on the illustration on Plate 321 of the book Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (1905) by Otto Wilhelm Thomé (1840–1925). (That book is available online at BioLib.de.)

DateFeb 25, 2009
| Print ArticlePrint Article |
CommentPost a Comment
Main | Watson's Taxidermy Services »

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.

Notify me of follow-up comments via email.