4 ms·

Today I learned about cucurbitacins. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbitacin https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbitacin

prawn 6y ago
Bit half-bakery but it immediately made me wonder if these compounds could be what juvenile palates tend to find distasteful?
- maxerickson 6y ago
  Yes. Lots of compounds that plants make for defense are bitter tasting. (tasting bitter flavors is one of the ways we defend ourselves from the compounds)
austincheney 6y ago
Even more interesting is Naringin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naringin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naringin This is a toxic flavonoid found in a variety of common fruits. It has been well known since the mid 80s when grapefruits became known for killing elderly people in nursing homes. Last year the FDA posted an advisory not to drink any fruit juice with powerful medications. I remember this came up in conversation last year on HN when people were deeply offended when I pointed out that eating gold, an extreme heavy metal, is toxic especially with certain food combinations and then a week later reading about the FDA advisory on CNN.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- perl4ever 6y ago
  "How to Use Edible Gold Leaf for Dishes That Are Fancy AF" https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/194092/edible-gold-leaf-how-to-use-it/ https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/194092/edible-gold-leaf-...
  - austincheney 6y ago
    Under ideal conditions pure gold is not toxic because the human GI tract does not chemically react with pure gold. Pure gold become reactive to human GI tract under a variety of conditions from certain food/drug combinations that alter GI tract chemical sensitivity, certain microbial interference, and reactive impurities in the metal. Once gold becomes poisonous it is extremely toxic due to its density and persistence in the body where gold poisoning is similar to lead poisoning but substantial more severe. There was even a HouseMD show episode where a woman was poisoning her husband with trace amounts of gold. The show is complete fiction but the chemistry is accurate. Why take that risk? If you want to knowingly eat poison I recommend cyanide. It has a wonderfully sweet and nutty flavor profile and is incredibly cheap and common. The most common nutritive source is peach and apricot nuts. Furthermore, the human body requires trace amounts of cyanide for microbial interactions to form vitamin B12. Gold has no nutritional value.

prawn 6y ago

Bit half-bakery but it immediately made me wonder if these compounds could be what juvenile palates tend to find distasteful?

maxerickson 6y ago
Yes. Lots of compounds that plants make for defense are bitter tasting. (tasting bitter flavors is one of the ways we defend ourselves from the compounds)

austincheney 6y ago

Even more interesting is Naringin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naringin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naringin This is a toxic flavonoid found in a variety of common fruits. It has been well known since the mid 80s when grapefruits became known for killing elderly people in nursing homes. Last year the FDA posted an advisory not to drink any fruit juice with powerful medications. I remember this came up in conversation last year on HN when people were deeply offended when I pointed out that eating gold, an extreme heavy metal, is toxic especially with certain food combinations and then a week later reading about the FDA advisory on CNN.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
perl4ever 6y ago
"How to Use Edible Gold Leaf for Dishes That Are Fancy AF" https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/194092/edible-gold-leaf-how-to-use-it/ https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/194092/edible-gold-leaf-...
- austincheney 6y ago
  Under ideal conditions pure gold is not toxic because the human GI tract does not chemically react with pure gold. Pure gold become reactive to human GI tract under a variety of conditions from certain food/drug combinations that alter GI tract chemical sensitivity, certain microbial interference, and reactive impurities in the metal. Once gold becomes poisonous it is extremely toxic due to its density and persistence in the body where gold poisoning is similar to lead poisoning but substantial more severe. There was even a HouseMD show episode where a woman was poisoning her husband with trace amounts of gold. The show is complete fiction but the chemistry is accurate. Why take that risk? If you want to knowingly eat poison I recommend cyanide. It has a wonderfully sweet and nutty flavor profile and is incredibly cheap and common. The most common nutritive source is peach and apricot nuts. Furthermore, the human body requires trace amounts of cyanide for microbial interactions to form vitamin B12. Gold has no nutritional value.