Crossword clues for amygdalin
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Amygdalin \A*myg"da*lin\, n. (Chem.) A glucoside extracted from bitter almonds as a white, crystalline substance.
Wiktionary
n. (context biochemistry English) a glycoside of benzaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide found in bitter almonds, and in the kernels of some other fruit
WordNet
n. a bitter cyanogenic glucoside extracted from the seeds of apricots and plums and bitter almonds
Wikipedia
Amygdalin (from Ancient Greek: "almond"), is a poisonous cyanogenic glycoside found in many plants, but most notably in the seeds (kernels) of apricot, bitter almonds, apple, peach, and plum.
Since the early 1950s, both amygdalin and a modified form named laetrile have been promoted as alternative cancer treatments, often using the misnomer Vitamin B. But studies have found them to be clinically ineffective in the treatment of cancer, as well as potentially toxic or lethal when taken by mouth, due to cyanide poisoning. Neither amygdalin nor laetrile is a vitamin.
The promotion of laetrile to treat cancer has been described in the medical literature as a canonical example of quackery, and as "the slickest, most sophisticated, and certainly the most remunerative cancer quack promotion in medical history."
Usage examples of "amygdalin".
And there were so many: homeopathy, acupuncture, bipolarized interferon, amygdalin, ion rebalance, meditation, chelation, Kirlian aura manipulation, biofeed-back, quantum energy .
The explanation is that occasional individual almond trees have a mutation in a single gene that prevents them from synthesizing the bitter-tasting amygdalin.
Eucalyptus amygdalin (Labille ) is the tallest known tree, specimens attaining as much as 480 feet, exceeding in height even the Californian Big Tree (Sequoia gigantea).
The Bitter Almond seed also contains a ferment Emulsin, which in presence of water acts on the soluble glucoside Amygdalin yielding glucose, prussic acid and the essential oil of Bitter Almonds, or Benzaldehyde, which is not used in medicine.
Most wild almond seeds contain an intensely bitter chemical called amygdalin, which (as was already mentioned) breaks down to yield the poison cyanide.