ABSTRACT
Food plants contain many substances culpable of posing potential risks to consumers, of which cyanogenic glycosides are no exception. Cyanogenic glycosides serve as important chemical weapons in the defense of the plant against herbivores because of their potential to generate toxic hydrogen cyanide. In addition to their defense function in plants, cyanogenic glycosides have been reported to assist important functions in primary metabolism. Cyanogenic glycosides are synthesized in some economically important food plants such as linamarin in cassava and butter bean; dhurrin in sorghum and macadamia nut; and amygdalin in almond, peach, sweet cherry, and sour cherry. Cyanogenic glycosides are water-soluble compounds that are chemically quite stable and are not toxic on their own because, the CNGs and their catabolic enzymes are stored in separate compartments in intact plant cells. Cyanogenesis can, therefore, be defined as the ability of plants and other living organisms to produce hydrogen cyanide.
