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Farm Kitchen:  peach pit?  |
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forgetmenot
True Blue Farmgirl
3602 Posts
Judith
Nora Springs
IA
USA
3602 Posts |
 Posted - Aug 26 2009 : 9:06:34 PM
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Does anyone know why our moms and grandmoms placed one peach pit in the bottom of the jar when canning peaches? Does it have to do with taste? keeping color? an accident? Just curious.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that something is more important than fear." Ambrose Red Moon |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 26 2009 : 9:37:18 PM
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Never heard of that, especially since they are poisenous.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9345 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9345 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2009 : 6:08:48 PM
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Only the seed has cyanide but as long as it is enclosed in the pit it won't hurt anything. I think it was just for the fun of it. I remember that being done.
God is good....all the time.
Denise
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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gramax18
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
Elinor
meeker
Colorado
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2009 : 9:50:03 PM
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My mother-in-law did that to keep the color.
Elinor |
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Prairie Princess
True Blue Farmgirl
1075 Posts
Jodi
Washington
USA
1075 Posts |
Posted - Aug 27 2009 : 9:53:10 PM
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My grandmother always put a peach pit in each jar when she'd can them, too..... good question! I guess I'm lucky I never died, though...we used to crack open the pit and eat the seed! LOL
~Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt
www.jodielyzabeth.blogspot.com |
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5 acre Farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1007 Posts
~~~*Terri*~~~
WA.
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 07:36:02 AM
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My mother always did, and so do I(I am 53), she said it helps keep the flavor and the color, and who knows maybe a little secret that has died with our Great, Great, Great, Great Grandmothers...LOL!
Farmgirl Sister #368
"It is most common for man to value most what has least worth."
My Farm and Garden blog....
http://blogonthefarmandgarden.blogspot.com
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AuntPammy
True Blue Farmgirl
488 Posts
Pamila
williamstown
wv
USA
488 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 07:42:34 AM
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I remember my mom doing that too.I don't know why though.
When I read on here that they are poisonous I just about died...as my oldest son loves to suck on the pit until there is no more flavor!!!Whew, glad it is the seed I will have to tell him about this.
"Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the shadow." Helen Keller
www.auntpsalmostheaven.blogspot.com |
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asnedecor
True Blue Farmgirl
1054 Posts
Anne
Portland
Or
USA
1054 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 09:30:45 AM
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I was curious about the pit - could not find why you put it in, but many recipes on line say to and they say to crack the pit. So then I was curious about the seed being poisonous and here is what I found -
And it turns out that peach seeds actually contain Cyanide, in the form of Amygdalin.
Is that a problem? Well, theoretically yes, but not really.
The amounts aren’t very big, with “One hundred grams of moist peach seed contains 88 mg of cyanide, while an equivalent amount of apricot seed holds 217 mg.”
A single peach fruit of course doesn’t have nearly as much as a hundred grams of seed. But how dangerous is that amount, as a high level reference?
If they’re not talking about pure cyanide, but about the Amygdalin, not at all. The thing is used in anti-cancer medications (doesn’t work, BTW) in higher amounts, and studies found no side-effects in taking 500mg three times a day. Which would be about 1.7Kg of just the peach’s seeds per day. Not realistic.
If they’re talking about the pure cyanide extracted from it, that’s more dangerous. But still not that big a deal. Research shows 10.8mg per Kg of body weight per day is NOAEL (i.e. known to be safe). So for a petite person weighing 50Kg this would be about 610g of peach seeds, per day. And that’s before any adverse effects of long-time usage appear, and still very far from chocking and instant death.
People rarely eat a peach seed by mistake, usually the pit/stone is too tough to open and expose the seeds. And it’s too large to be swallowed whole by a person. So a seed will only be eaten when the stone is cracked, and one accidentally slips out, and accidentally swallowed.
Compared with the massive amount of seeds a person will have to eat to get to the critical level, I’d say it’s not that big a concern. Heck, eating 600g of whole peaches a day would be a hard task. So that amount of just the seeds? The boredom and frustration, not to mention the horrible taste, will kill a person first.
Anne in Portland, OR
"Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them" Eyeore from Winnie the Pooh
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Edited by - asnedecor on Aug 29 2009 09:31:18 AM |
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1badmamawolf
True Blue Farmgirl
2199 Posts
Teresa
"Bent Fence Farms"
Ca
USA
2199 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 09:40:59 AM
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Anne, thanks for the science behind the peach pit, but, I would not take the chance anyway, with my luck, I would be one of those who would get sick anyway, lol.
"Treat the earth well, it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children" |
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forgetmenot
True Blue Farmgirl
3602 Posts
Judith
Nora Springs
IA
USA
3602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 29 2009 : 09:58:05 AM
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Thanks so much for the lessons and ideas. Anyway, it looks pretty neat in the jar.:)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that something is more important than fear." Ambrose Red Moon |
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vintagediva1
True Blue Farmgirl
1251 Posts
Michele
Brighton
Michigan
USA
1251 Posts |
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Prairie Princess
True Blue Farmgirl
1075 Posts
Jodi
Washington
USA
1075 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2009 : 4:42:00 PM
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That would be why we never died, Anne.... LOL
~Jodi
"Women are like teabags...you never know how strong they are until they get into hot water." Eleanor Roosevelt
www.jodielyzabeth.blogspot.com |
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forgetmenot
True Blue Farmgirl
3602 Posts
Judith
Nora Springs
IA
USA
3602 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2009 : 5:09:48 PM
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Well, now I feel better Maybe that's why Mom & grandma's looked so pretty, and mine were a funny dark color. (no pit in mine)
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but the belief that something is more important than fear." Ambrose Red Moon |
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Rivergirl_2007
True Blue Farmgirl
332 Posts
Shirley
Karnak
IL
USA
332 Posts |
Posted - Aug 30 2009 : 8:38:41 PM
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| Wow! I never quit learning. I have never heard of putting the pit in, but will make a note in my book to do that next year. Too late this year. I really hate it when I go to great pains to use citric to keep them from turning brown and then a few months after canning, they seem to turn anyway. |
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Farm Kitchen: peach pit? |
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peach pit?
