Ask A Scientist Botany Archive

name         Don T.
status       educator
age          50s

Question -   Do apple seeds have arsenic in them? Is it dangerous to
process apples with the seeds still in the fruit?

The good news: apple seeds do not contain arsenic.  The bad news:  apple
seeds DO contain cyanide.  As for processing the apples, what kind of
processing are you interested in?  Grinding apples and pressing them for
cider doesn't release enough cyanide to be a problem;  neither does cooking
apples and straining them to make a sauce.  About the only way you can
actually ruin into a problem with the toxicity of apple seeds is if you save
the seeds from about a bushel of apples and eat them all at once.

Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
Assistant Director
PG Research Foundation, Darien, Illinois
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Possibly helpful:

http://newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen99/gen99463.htm

Anthony R. Brach, Ph.D.
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