Almonds can be divided into southern and northern. Southern almonds are sweet, also called sweet almonds. The main producing areas are Hebei, Beijing, Shandong and other places. North almonds are bitter, also known as bitter almonds, mostly planted in the hills and mountains. This is north almonds are poisonous, and really do not eat more. The almond dew is southern almonds, which means that almond dew is not found in sweet almonds. North almonds have a substance called amygdalin, commonly known as vitamin B17. it has a very specific structure. The molecular structure contains cyanide, which is an alpha-hydroxynitrile. This substance is not toxic.

It is only when it is broken down by digestive enzymes in the body that toxic hydrocyanic acid is produced. If there are too many bitter almonds, the hydrocyanic acid produced by the decomposition of amygdalin in the body will be produced to a certain extent, and people will die of poisoning. Therefore, it is not the almonds that are toxic, but the hydrocyanic acid, which breaks down in the body after consumption. Many cyanide has a special smell, we often call it bitter almond flavor, so when some film and television works by detectives to solve the case, they said at the scene of the crime smelled bitter almond flavor, so they initially judged to be hydrogen cyanide poisoning. But bitter almonds are not absolutely inedible, it is a kind of Chinese medicine, is commonly used expectorant cough medicine.

In order to reduce the toxicity of bitter almonds, they need to be processed before they can be used as medicine. Bitter amygdalin, which is unstable at high temperatures, is also soluble in water and can be processed by boiling it in hot water or frying it. Although it is called amygdalin, it is not only found in almonds. Many plants in the Rosaceae family, such as apples, loquats, peaches, plums, and prunes, have bitter amygdalin detected in their seeds. Why do we often eat fruits that are not toxic? Because, we eat mainly the flesh part, which does not contain bitter amygdalin.

Even if you don't pay attention to eat one or two apple seeds occasionally, the digestive juices can't digest these seed coats, and the bitter amygdalin in them won't be broken down by the digestive juices. I hope you don't believe these rumors. With further research into the nature of bitter amygdalin, we have discovered a variety of effects in addition to the known cough suppressant, expectorant, and analgesic effects. For example, studies have shown that bitter amygdalin is effective in cardiovascular, digestive and urinary disorders, so we should not be prejudiced against bitter amygdalin because of rumors.