Apricot kernel
The apricot seeds is the seed of the apricot , which is the in the drupe contained core .
As with almonds , there are sweet and bitter apricot kernels. The sweet kernels come from apricot cultivars that are offered for the fresh market. The bitter apricot kernels with their bitter almond taste are obtained from the small, sour wild apricots. Consumption of the bitter varieties can lead to poisoning. There are kernels that are lighter or darker in the peel of the fruit: the sweet kernels are usually elongated, the bitter kernels more compact. In the confectionery industry, apricot kernels are mainly used as a raw material for the production of persipan , a mass similar to marzipan .
harvest
In July the fruits are harvested and dried. With the sweet apricots, the stone is pressed out of the fruit by hand after half the drying time. In the sour wild variety, which contains the bitter apricot kernels, the apricot is halved and the stone removed. The apricot stones are dried again, then cracked to extract the core. The apricot kernels are selected by hand so that as few breakages or shell fragments get into the sales goods.
Dietary Supplements and Alternative Medicine
Apricot kernels are sold in health food stores , health food stores and online shops as dietary supplements and advertised as beneficial to health. They are also available in world shops. The people of the Hunzukuc (also wrongly called Hunza ), who are often referred to as particularly long-lived due to rumors, are said to regularly consume apricot kernels, among other things. In addition to the whole kernel, capsules with ground kernels are also available in stores, often on the Internet. However, these products are not approved in Germany.
Bitter apricot kernels are said to be effective in alternative cancer therapies. Apricot kernels contain u. a. Amygdalin , which splits off toxic hydrogen cyanide in the body . Amygdalin is believed to be able to kill tumor cells , but this has not been proven and is considered an unscientific myth. In the United States, the substance was launched under the name Laetrile in the 1950s. There and in Germany, the drug is no longer approved as a medicinal product.
Sweet apricot kernels
Sweet apricot kernels taste fruity, sometimes also slightly sour. They are also eaten in the original apricot growing areas. For some time now they have also been on sale in organic shops in Germany. As with sweet almonds, the amygdalin content is so low compared to the bitter varieties (hydrogen cyanide content <70 mg / kg) that consumption can be classified as harmless. There is also a small percentage of bitter kernels in the sweet apricots. There are also kernels from wild apricots that taste less bitter.
Bitter apricot kernels
Bitter apricot kernels contain a relatively high proportion of amygdalin . According to the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection , even a few kernels can lead to symptoms of poisoning every day. The cores contain up to 300 milligrams of cyanide per 100 grams or up to one milligram per core. If consumed excessively, hydrogen cyanide could block important enzymes in cell respiration and, in the worst case, lead to internal suffocation. At lower concentrations, the human organism can normally excrete hydrogen cyanide. Signs of hydrocyanic acid poisoning are severe headaches, dizziness and nausea, as well as rosy or bluish discoloration of the skin and feelings of suffocation. The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment recommends eating a maximum of two bitter kernels per day or avoiding them entirely. Other sources cite 40 kernels as the lowest lethal dose for an adult person weighing 60 kg. or 7 kernels per hour according to the typical metabolism rate ( detoxification rate )
rating
In the statement of the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection, it says: “The demand for bitter apricot kernels has increased since consumption was recommended in various media as an alternative medical measure for cancer treatment. These recommendations are aimed at therapeutic effects that are not scientifically recognized and dangerously disregard the safety aspects to be applied to a food. "
The Westphalia Chamber of Pharmacists also warns against the consumption of bitter apricot kernels because of the health risks. In a statement it says: “In various media they have been recommended as an alternative medicine against cancer - this is not scientifically proven. According to the current state of knowledge, apricot kernels are to be classified as hazardous foods and not as medically effective drugs. "
The substance amygdalin , which can be isolated from apricot kernels, has not had any effect on the development of the tumor , either in animal experiments or in a clinical study with cancer patients . “In a clinical study published in the renowned medical journal New England Journal of Medicine , 178 cancer patients were treated with amygdalin. A third of the patients had not received chemotherapy before . The patients were in good clinical condition. Various amygdalin dosage regimens used in practice have been investigated. No benefit was seen in terms of cure rates, cancer improvement or stabilization, improvement in cancer-related symptoms, or life span extension. However, symptoms of cyanide intoxication were found in various patients or blood levels were measured that were almost lethally toxic. "The authors sum up the result of their clinical investigation:" Amygdalin is a toxic substance with no effects in cancer therapy. "
The Association for Independent Health Advice points out that as early as the late 1980s, scientific studies reported poisoning and deaths from hydrogen cyanide.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Internet presence of the associations for independent health advice, accessed in June 2016
- ↑ Björn Bernitt: Apricot kernels: dangerous and not a cure for cancer. In: Medicine transparent . June 26, 2020, accessed July 7, 2020 .
- ↑ a b UGB Association on Pseudovitamins
- ^ Message from the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety
- ↑ a b Pharmazeutische Zeitung Online: Amygdalin drug profile - a new old cancer drug?
- ↑ Ernst Lindner: Toxikologie der Nahrungsmittel, 4th edition 1990, ISBN 978-3804715752 .
- ^ Kaschuba WA, Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety
- ↑ Communication from the Bavarian State Ministry for the Environment, Health and Consumer Protection (2006) ( Memento from August 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ “Miracle cure” Apricot kernels contain poisonous hydrogen cyanide ( Memento from July 1, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
Web links
- “The apricot is there to eat - its core is not” ( Memento from August 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), warning from the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety from August 3, 2006.