Seeds of Many of Our Favorite Fruits Are Poisonous

Seeds or pits of peaches, nectarines (nectarines are fuzzless peaches), apricots, cherries, plums, pears and apples contain a substance termed amygdalin which breaks down to cyanide. The toxic levels of apricot pits, for example, depend on the variety as some contain higher levels than others. Eating 1 to 20 kernels would result in serious illness, and possibly death. For children, the amount is approximately 15% of that of the adult. No person has recovered from eating more than 38 apricot seeds. The kernel that covers the hard apricot pit resembles its cousin, the edible almond. Some may conclude that it is edible, which would be a lethal mistake. Some wild and bitter almonds are quite toxic, but the domesticated almonds are sound food. Eating 13 to15 raw peach pits could put an adult in the lethal range.