In: A Guide to Plant Poisoning of Animals in North America, A. P. Knight and R. G. Walter (Eds.)

Plants Containing Cyanogenic Glycosides Cyanogenic glycosides are substances present in many plants that can produce highly toxic hydrogen cyanide (HCN) or prussic acid. Specific plant enzymes released when plant cells are damaged when chewed, crushed, wilted, or frozen, hydrolyze the glycosides to cyanide. At least 2000 plant species are known to contain cyanogenic glycosides with the potential to produce HCN poisoning [1-6]. However, relatively few of these plants are frequent causes of cyanide poisoning in humans or animals because they are infrequent food sources for humans or animals [1,2]. Plants that have been most frequently associated with cyanide poisoning in animals are listed in Table 1 1. Some of these plants are grown as food sources for humans and animals, for example, sorghum (Sorghum spp.), corn (Zea mays), clovers (Trifolium spp.), and manihot or cassava (Manihot esculenta), and can be used safely provided attention is paid to the circumstances under which these plants accumulate cyanogenic glycosides.