cherry/peach pits

ameliat · Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:25 pm

Is ok to add these to the compost? I figure they could help with my clay soil even if they don't break down easily?

applestar · Sun Jul 20, 2014 9:33 pm

Yep. Some of them won't die and will volunteer in the compost or where you end up using the compost. You can treat them as weeds... Or not.

ElizabethB · Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:19 pm

DITTO AppleStar on the volunteers. Maybe break them with a hammer or brick before adding to the compost.

Good luck

BTW - you may want to reconsider the peach pits. They contain cyanide.

https://voices.yahoo.com/the-unknown-dan ... 99134.html

toxcrusadr · Mon Jul 21, 2014 3:58 pm

The amount of cyanide would be tiny, and it's actually bound up in more complex molecules. The cyano group appears in many naturally occurring compounds. Nature will take care of it without posing a toxic threat. If they aren't dangerous inside your peach, they won't be in the compost.

BTW, if I recall my toxicology correctly, green apples give you a stomach ache for the same reason. There's a CN-containing compound that fades as the apples ripen, but if you eat unripe apples, it combines with the acid in your stomach to create a tiny amount of hydrogen cyanide, which is rather toxic.

applestar · Mon Jul 21, 2014 4:07 pm

^^ What toxcrusadr said ^^

...actually reading ElizabethB's post I had an immediate mental reaction -- "that's not true" -- but couldn't put a finger on why I thought that. So while tox was posting, I was websurfing.

This is not exactly the same, but the abstract describes the basic idea that cyanide containing compounds would be quickly broken down and neutralized in the compost, which is what I had remembered.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19558134

Seeds that remain viable should maintain its integrity and also should not pose any problem.

toxcrusadr · Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:19 am

I finally read ElizabethB's Yahoo link, very interesting. It would take some research to confirm how much CN can actually be generated by a peach pit. I thought 80 mg sounded like a lot, and I wanted to confirm that value and make sure that's not actually the amount of amygdalin. Amygdalin is a rather large molecule and the CN portion is only a small fraction of its weight.

In any case, the article overplays the risk. Your kids will not be poisoned if they bite a peach pit - I mean how much damage can you actually do to a peach pit before you decide to stop doing that? And if they're little enough to swallow the pit, it's more of a choking hazard than a toxic hazard. If a kid is bigger they're not going to swallow the pit anyway.

This is all a bit of a tangent since the question was about compost, but I always try to put things in perspective that I find on the web about toxins. Once had a question about using dehumidifier water for plants, and someone said the lead solder in the radiator would contaminate your garden with lead! Verifiably untrue. Turns out it was actually on Wikipedia.

ameliat · Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:03 pm

Thanks for all the replies and I love how much there is to learn by going O/T. I will also add that that from what I read, this forum has the most civil disagreements on the web!

Now pack to poison - is CN the reason why you shouldn't eat the core of an apple? Are the seeds toxic?

=Amelia

rainbowgardener · Thu Jul 24, 2014 2:10 pm

Well, yes and no. Apples are in the same family as cherries and peaches, so their seeds do also have the amygdalin which has cyanide. But it is in very small amounts and you are protected from it by the hard outer coat of the seed. If you just swallow an apple seed, it just passes through your digestive system harmlessly. You would have to really chew it up to release the toxin, but even so it is in too small amount to be harmful.

I wouldn't recommend crushing up a whole pile of apple seeds and eating them, but this seems like an unlikely scenario.

toxcrusadr · Fri Aug 01, 2014 11:05 am

Common sense plays a role here. If apple seeds were seriously toxic, it would be fairly common knowledge.

However, I still have to argue with my better half about the rhubarb. She cuts the stalk an inch (or even two!) below the leaf because 'the leaves are poisonous.' They do indeed contain high amounts of oxalic acid, which is toxic in high doses, so the leaves should not be eaten. But the stalk itself contains some oxalic acid too. According to Wiki, it makes up 2-2.5% of the acid content of the stalk. It's not like that last inch of stalk is going to kill you. It's a whole extra bite of delicious pie!