Are Apple Seeds Poisonous? Should You Avoid Eating Apple Cores?

You may have heard that apple seeds contain cyanide. Is this true? Does this mean that apple cores and apple seeds are poisonous? Should you worry about swallowing or eating the seeds of an apple? Here is a short article to set the record straight on whether this is a myth or not.

Apple Seeds Contain a Cyanide Compound
Swallowing Apple Seeds Whole
How Many Apple Seeds Does it Take to Poison You?
Poison Apple Seeds Are A Myth, Sort Of
Sub-Acute Cyanide Poisoning from Apple Seeds
Sub-Acute Cyanide Poisoning from Apple Seeds
A Note of Caution
Summary

Apple Seeds Contain a Cyanide Compound

The seeds of an apple contain a chemical called amygdalin. If you crush these seeds or chew them, enzymatic hydrolysis will liberate hydrogen cyanide from this chemical. Hydrogen cyanide is a well-known poison we think of as just cyanide. So, if you chew up the seeds in the core of an apple, you will be ingesting cyanide. However, the cyanide liberated from a few apple seeds is in trace amounts, and a healthy body can more than metabolize these amounts. So, although I am not recommending that you chew and swallow apple seeds (you should not), it poses little danger.

Can You Eat Potatoes With a Green Tinge?

Swallowing Apple Seeds Whole

Swallowing apple seeds whole is less risky. The hard outer coating of apple seeds will have no problem resisting stomach acid and surviving transit through the gut. So, no cyanide will be produced and the apple seeds will pass through you intact to be deposited in the regular way (that’s a pun, get it?)

Such a seed would even be able to sprout, although, as I explain in The Poisonous Apple – A Chemical Cocktail, you would end up with a crab apple tree rather than whatever apple variety you started with.

For more about cyanide in foods and the other terrifying chemicals found in an apple, read the article linked above.

The Poisonous Apple – A Chemical Cocktail

How Many Apple Seeds Does it Take to Poison You?

The amount of amygdalin in an apple seed depends on the variety of apple. On average, though, one seed contains around 1 to 4 mg of amygdalin. The amount of hydrogen cyanide released is much lower.

Apple seeds have the potential to release around 0.6 mg per gram. Since a lethal dose of cyanide is 50 to 300 mg, this means a person would have to eat 85 to 500 apples to perhaps receive a fatal dose from apple seeds.

Not only that, but you’d have to thoroughly crush or downright pulverize the apple seeds into a powder, such as by blending a bunch of apples very thoroughly in a powerful blender or running them through a coffee grinder.

Then you have to ingest all the pureed apple or eat all the completely pulverized seeds all at once, or at least fairly quickly, to produce a potentially lethal result. Read on to learn why this is still a very bad idea.

Why You Should Not Eat More Than 2 to 4 Brazil Nuts a Day

Brazil nuts are very nutritious. They contain a good amount of protein and healthy fats and are quite rich in essential minerals, including calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc. They also contain plenty of vitamin E. A one-ounce serving of Brazil nuts (6 to 8 kernels) provides more than half of the copper you need in ... Read more...

Poison Apple Seeds Are A Myth, Sort Of

In summary, it is a myth that eating the core of an apple and chewing or swallowing the seeds is dangerous because of cyanide.

However, it is not a myth that apple seeds contain cyanide (actually amygdalin) and that ingesting a sufficiently large quantity of pulverized seeds could perhaps be lethal. If this were to occur, it could only occur intentionally, as in the movies, not inadvertently.

bag of microwave popcorn in microwave oven

Popcorn Lung: Should You Be Worried About Microwave Popcorn?

Sub-Acute Cyanide Poisoning from Apple Seeds

While it does take a ridiculous number of seeds to prove lethal, ingesting hydrogen cyanide in somewhat smaller amounts, would still be quite unpleasant, producing illness and potentially requiring hospitalization.

The symptoms of sub-acute cyanide poisoning from amygdalin ingestion (or any other cyanogenic compound) include anxiety, headache, dizziness, and confusion. At higher levels, loss of consciousness, hypotension, paralysis, coma, and yes, death can occur.

Were Skittles Banned In California?

A Note of Caution

All the information in this article is general. While it is a myth that the seeds of one apple core are highly dangerous to ingest, this does NOT mean that you should routinely chew up and swallow the seeds of an apple. I’m going to advise, like these researchers have, that you do not.

Key Summary Points For “Are Apple Seeds Poisonous? Should You Avoid Eating Apple Cores?”

The amount of amygdalin in apple seeds can vary. You have no way of knowing whether the apple seeds you eat happen to have a higher amount of amygdalin than expected.
While I have given the average amounts, the actual amounts can be higher. You can rest assured that swallowing the seeds of an apple is harmless but don’t chew them.
While apples are most often the fruit discussed regarding amygdalin, amygdalin and other cyanogenic glycosides are quite commonly found in the plant kingdom, being present as a defense against the plant, or its seeds, being consumed.
In humans, acute poisoning has most often occurred from apricot kernels or cassava.
It is widely reported that apple seeds contain cyanide and are thus poisonous.
Apple seeds do contain a chemical called amygdalin, which can release hydrogen cyanide when crushed or chewed.
However, only trace amounst of cyanide released from a few apple seeds and the body can safely metabolize this small amount, so eating a few seeds is not dangerous to a healthy person.
While you should now chew and swallow apple seeds, it poses little danger.
Swallowing apple seeds whole is less risky, as the hard outer coating will protect against the release of cyanide.
You would have to eat 85 to 500 apples’ worth of thoroughly crushed apple seeds to potentially receive a fatal dose of cyanide, which is highly unlikely to happen accidentally.
So, while apple seeds do contain cyanide, the risk of poisoning from eating apple cores is a myth.
Still, ingesting a moderate number of appleseeds could still cause unpleasant symptoms like anxiety, headaches, and confusion, though this is unlikely to happen accidentally.
Intentionally ingesting large amounts of pulverized apple seeds could potentially be dangerous.
Regardless of the low risk, it’s still best to avoid chewing and swallowing apple seeds and to avoid eating the cores and chewing the seeds when doing so, as the amount of cyanide can vary.