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Poisonous Plants
Plants that cause illness or death after consuming them are referred to as poisonous plants. The toxins in poisonous plants affect herbivores, and deter them from consuming the plants. Plants cannot move to escape their predators, so they must have other means of protecting themselves from herbivorous animals. Some plants have physical defenses such as thorns, spines and prickles, but by far the most common type of protection is chemical. Over millennia, through the process of natural selection, plants have evolved the means to produce a vast and complicated array of chemical compounds to deter herbivores. Tannin, for example, is a defensive compound that emerged relatively early in the evolutionary history of plants, while more complex molecules such as polyacetylenes are found in younger groups of plants such as the Asterales. Many of the known plant defense compounds primarily defend against consumption by insects, though other animals, including humans, that consume such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cattle Poison
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called cows and mature male cattle are bulls. Young female cattle are called heifers, young male cattle are oxen or bullocks, and castrated male cattle are known as steers. Cattle are commonly raised for meat, for dairy products, and for leather. As draft animals, they pull carts and farm implements. Cattle are considered sacred animals within Hinduism, and it is illegal to kill them in some Indian states. Small breeds such as the miniature Zebu are kept as pets. Taurine cattle are widely distributed across Europe and temperate areas of Asia, the Americas, and Australia. Zebus are found mainly in India and tropical areas of Asia, America, and Australia. Sanga cattle are found primarily in sub-Saharan Africa. These types, sometimes classifie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiosulphate
Thiosulfate ( IUPAC-recommended spelling; sometimes thiosulphate in British English) is an oxyanion of sulfur with the chemical formula . Thiosulfate also refers to the compounds containing this anion, which are the salts of thiosulfuric acid, such as sodium thiosulfate and ammonium thiosulfate . Thiosulfate salts occur naturally. Thiosulfate rapidly dechlorinates water, and is used to halt bleaching in the paper-making industry. Thiosulfate salts are mainly used for dyeing in textiles, and bleaching of natural substances. Structure and bonding The thiosulfate ion is tetrahedral at the central S atom. The thiosulfate ion has C3v symmetry. The external sulfur atom has a valence of 2 while the central sulfur atom has a valence of 6. The oxygen atoms have a valence of 2. The S-S distance of about 201 pm in sodium thiosulphate is appropriate for a single bond. The S-O distances are slightly shorter than the S-O distances in sulfate. For many years, the oxidation states of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fatty Acid Metabolism
Fatty acid metabolism consists of various metabolic processes involving or closely related to fatty acids, a family of molecules classified within the lipid macronutrient category. These processes can mainly be divided into (1) catabolic processes that generate energy and (2) anabolic processes where they serve as building blocks for other compounds. In catabolism, fatty acids are metabolized to produce energy, mainly in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). When compared to other macronutrient classes (carbohydrates and protein), fatty acids yield the most ATP on an energy per gram basis, when they are completely oxidized to CO2 and water by beta oxidation and the citric acid cycle. Fatty acids (mainly in the form of triglycerides) are therefore the foremost storage form of fuel in most animals, and to a lesser extent in plants. In anabolism, intact fatty acids are important precursors to triglycerides, phospholipids, second messengers, hormones and ketone bodies. For exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypoglycin B
Hypoglycin B is a naturally occurring organic compound in the species '' Blighia sapida''. It is particularly concentrated in the fruit of the plant especially in the seeds. Hypoglycin B is toxic if ingested and is one of the causative agents of Jamaican vomiting sickness. It is a dipeptide of glutamic acid Glutamic acid (symbol Glu or E; known as glutamate in its anionic form) is an α- amino acid that is used by almost all living beings in the biosynthesis of proteins. It is a non-essential nutrient for humans, meaning that the human body can ... and hypoglycin A. References Alpha-Amino acids Dipeptides Dicarboxylic acids Toxic amino acids {{OrganicAcid-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hypoglycin A
Hypoglycin A is a naturally occurring amino acid derivative found in the unripened fruit of the Ackee tree ('' Blighia sapida'') and in the seeds of the box elder tree (''Acer negundo''). It is toxic if ingested, and is the causative agent of Jamaican vomiting sickness. A 2017 Lancet report established a link between the consumption of unripened lychees (containing hypoglycin A or methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG)) resulting in hypoglycaemia and death from acute toxic encephalopathy. Sources The entirety of the unripe Ackee fruit is toxic and contains large amounts of hypoglycin. The fruit is safe to eat only when the fruit is allowed to fully open and expose the large black seeds while on the tree. The levels of the toxin decrease over time though from approximately 1000 ppm to around 0.1 ppm in the mature fruit. Relatives of Ackee, including lychee, longan, and rambutan, can contain enough α-(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine, a homologue of hypoglycin A, in their fruit to caus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae are a family (biology), family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1,858 accepted species. Examples include Aesculus, horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee. The Sapindaceae occur in temperate to tropical regions, many in laurel forest habitat, throughout the world. Many are Glossary of botanical terms#laticiferous, laticiferous, i.e. they contain latex, a milky sap, and many contain mildly Toxicity, toxic saponins with soap-like qualities in either the foliage and/or the seeds, or roots. The largest genera are ''Serjania'', ''Paullinia'', ''Allophylus'' and ''Maple, Acer''. Description Plants of this family have a variety of habits, from trees to herbaceous plants to lianas. The leaves of the tropical genera are usually spirally alternate, while those of the temperate maples (''Maple, Acer), Aesculus'', and a few other genera are opposite. They are most often leaf shape, pinnately compound, but a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ackee
The ackee (''Blighia sapida''), also known as acki, akee, or ackee apple, is a fruit of the Sapindaceae ( soapberry) family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. The scientific name honours Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, in 1793. The English common name is derived from the West African Akan-language name . Although having a long-held reputation as being poisonous with potential fatalities, the fruit arils are renowned as delicious when ripe, prepared properly, and cooked and are a feature of various Caribbean cuisines. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and is considered a delicacy. Botany Ackee is an evergreen tree that grows about 10 metres tall, with a short trunk and a dense crown. The leaves are paripinnately, compound long, with 6–10 elliptical to oblong leathery leaflets. Each leaflet is long and wide. The inflorescences are fragrant, up to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blighia Sapida
The ackee (''Blighia sapida''), also known as acki, akee, or ackee apple, is a fruit of the Sapindaceae ( soapberry) family, as are the lychee and the longan. It is native to tropical West Africa. The scientific name honours Captain William Bligh who took the fruit from Jamaica to the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England, in 1793. The English common name is derived from the West African Akan-language name . Although having a long-held reputation as being poisonous with potential fatalities, the fruit arils are renowned as delicious when ripe, prepared properly, and cooked and are a feature of various Caribbean cuisines. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and is considered a delicacy. Botany Ackee is an evergreen tree that grows about 10 metres tall, with a short trunk and a dense crown. The leaves are paripinnately, compound long, with 6–10 elliptical to oblong leathery leaflets. Each leaflet is long and wide. The inflorescences are fragrant, up to 20& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saponin
Saponins (Latin ''sapon'', 'soap' + ''-in'', 'one of') are bitter-tasting, usually toxic plant-derived secondary metabolites. They are organic chemicals that become foamy when agitated in water and have high molecular weight. They are present in a wide range of plant species throughout the bark, leaves, stems, roots and flowers but particularly in soapwort (genus '' Saponaria''), a flowering plant, the soapbark tree ('' Quillaja saponaria''), common corn-cockle ('' Agrostemma githago'' L.), baby's breath ( ''Gypsophila'' spp.) and soybeans ('' Glycine max'' L.). They are used in soaps, medicines (e.g. drug adjuvants), fire extinguishers, dietary supplements, steroid synthesis, and in carbonated beverages (for example, being responsible for maintaining the head on root beer). Saponins are both water and fat soluble, which gives them their useful soap properties. Some examples of these chemicals are glycyrrhizin ( licorice flavoring) and quillaia (alt. quillaja), a bark ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asparagus Densiflorus
''Asparagus densiflorus'' (among several species colloquially called asparagus ferns; no relation to actual ferns), or the foxtail fern (asparagus) or plume fern, is a variable, evergreen-perennial plant related to cultivated, edible asparagus. It is native to southern Africa, from Mozambique to South Africa, but is widely cultivated. Related species Foxtail asparagus is part of a group of similar-looking and related ''Asparagus'' species native to Africa, including ''Asparagus aethiopicus'' ("Sprenger's asparagus"), ''A. confertus'' and '' A. krebsianus''. ''A. densiflorus'' has been occasionally confused with '' A. aethiopicus''—a different, spikier, more rambling and pendant species—thus some sources provide incorrect information in reference to ''A. densiflorus''. The plant formerly often grown as ''A. densiflorus'' var. 'Sprengeri' is, simply, ''A. densiflorus''. Furthermore, the species known as ''A. densiflorus'' var. 'Meyersii' remains ''A. densiflorus'', as well. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asparagus Officinalis
Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description Asparagus is an herbaceous, perennial plant growing typically to tall, with stout stems with much-branched, feathery foliage. It has been known to grow as long as . The 'leaves' are needle-like cladodes (Aerial stem modification, modified stems) in the Leaf#Morphology, axils of scale leaves; they are long and broad, and clustered in fours, up to 15, together, in a rose-like shape. The root system, often referred to as a 'crown', is adventitious; the root type is Fascicle (botany), fasciculated. The flowers are bell-shaped, greenish-white to yellowish, long, with six tepals partially fused together at the base; they are produced singly or in clusters of two or three in the junctions of the branchlets. It is usually dioecious, with male ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
