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Toxicants in plants
Don't eat plants. They are toxic! While animals can flee or fight to combat predation, plants rely on numerous toxic substances to avoid predation. By eating plants you are fighting evolution!
Plants can't run away or fight off predation. Any ideally edible plant would be extinct.
Some plant toxicants include the following:
Cytotoxins - stilbenoids in peanuts
Mutagens - [6]-gingerol in ginger
Carcinogens - safrole in cocoa
Enzyme inhibitors:
- Cholinesterase inhibitors - in potatoes
- Protease inhibitors - in raw soybeans
- Amylase inhibitors - in wheat flour
Tannins - in tea, coffee, and cocoa
Cyanogenic glycosides - in cassava.
Goitrogens (glucosinolates) - in Brassica species: cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.
Lectin proteins (phytohemagglutinins) - in red kidney beans
Lathyrogens - in chick peas and vetch
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids - in crops contaminated with weeds
Antivitamins - although not toxic per se, the anti-vitamins can cause problems as a result of their interference with the function or absorption of essential nutrients.
Anti-thiamin compounds - in mung beans, rice bran, beets, Brussels sprouts