On Tue, 12 Aug 1997, JoAnn Betten wrote: > i avoid almonds since i read this: > "But not even ardent nut lovers eat wild almonds, of which a few dozen > contain enough cyanide (the poison used in Nazi gas chambers) to kill > us....Almonds provide a striking example of bitter seeds and their change > under domestication. Most wild almond seeds contain an intensely bitter > chemical called amygdalin, which breaks down to yield the poison cyanide. A > snack of wild almonds can kill a person foolish enough to ignore the warning > of bitter taste." > > (from _Guns, Germs, and Steel-The Fates of Human Societies_, by Jared > Diamond. very interesting as it relates to the domestication of plants) > > JoAnn. Yes, but he's talking about WILD almonds, and goes on to explain that domesticated almonds aren't bitter and are perfectly fine. Corbie