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Upon learning about cyanogenic glycosides, brewers often question the toxicity of cherry and apricot pits in beer. Assuming full conversion of these glycosides, and that none of the HCN boils off, levels of HCN introduced from cherry and apricot pits are too low to cause harm to adult humans. A lethal dosage of cyanide in humans is estimated to be around 1.52 mg per kilogram of body weight, with 0.56 mg per kilogram of body weight being the lowest recorded (although this lowest figure was obtained from a historical case when the measurements taken may not have been accurate) <ref>[http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp8.pdf Toxicology Profile for Cyanide. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. July 2006. Pg 42. Retrieved 08/25/2016.]</ref>. High exposure can cause harm to the brain and heart, and can cause comas or death. Exposure to 0.05 mg of cyanide per kilogram of body weight per day for 15-364 days is considered to cause accumulative health risks, such as reproductive, respiratory, neurological, thyroid, and gastrointestinal issues <ref>[http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp8.pdf Toxicology Profile for Cyanide. Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. July 2006. Pg 21. Retrieved 08/25/2016.]</ref>. The EU regulates that alcoholic beverages cannot exceed 1 mg of HCN per ABV percentage (v/v%) per liter <ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/food/fs/sfp/addit_flavor/flav09_en.pdf COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 22 June 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to flavourings for use in foodstuffs and to source materials for their production (88/388/EEC). The European Food Commission, Food Safety. Retrieved 08/26/2016</ref>. Luk Daenen, a glyoside researcher, calculated that for a 4% ABV alcohol beer, 4 mg of HCN per liter is allowed. With 200 grams of cherries per liter, and the pits being 10-14 grams of that weight, there is 22 - 30.8 amygdalin per liter of beer. This equates to 1.3 - 1.82 mg of HCN per liter of beer, which is less than the 4 mg of HCN per liter EU regulation. Considering that ~42 mg of HCN is required to kill a person that weighs 70 kilograms (154 pounds), that person would need to drink around 23 liters of beer <ref>[https://www.uclouvain.be/cps/ucl/doc/inbr/documents/presentation-luk-daenen.pdf "Use of beta-glucosidase activity for flavour enhancement in specialty beers," slideshow by Luk Daenen. 2012. Retrieved 08/26/2016.]</ref>. 350 mL of alcohol would kill a 70 kilogram adult <ref>[http://www.alcohol.org.nz/alcohol-its-effects/health-effects/alcohol-poisoning "Alcohol Poisoning". NZ Health Promotion Agency. Retrieved 08/26/2016.]</ref>. The amount of 4% ABV beer required to kill a 70 kg adult from alcohol poisoning is around 8.75 liters. Alcohol would kill such a person far before cyanide poisoning would become a concern.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Plant/tissue !! mg HCN/kg
|-
| Cassava(bitter)/dried root cortex || 2450 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Cassava(bitter)/leaves || 310 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Cassava(bitter)/whole tubers || 395 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Cassava(sweet)/leaves || 468 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Cassava(sweet)/whole tubers || 462 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Sorghum/whole immature plant || 2500 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Bamboo/immature shoot tip || 8000 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Lima beans from Java (coloured) || 3120 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Lima beans from Puerta Rico (black) || 3000 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
| Lima beans from Burma (white) || 2100 <ref name="Speijers"></ref>
|-
|}
==See Also==