Question:
I have read that rose hip seeds contain cyanide, is it truly safe to consume the tea with ground seeds?
Answer:
Some species of Rosaceae family do contain a small amount of cyanide. However I can find no reference in any scientific journals stating that rose hip (Rosa canina) seeds are toxic.
Not consuming rose hips would be a little like saying “don’t eat apples” because their seeds contain cyanide too.
Ray Mears in his “Wild Food” book mentions on page 189 that Rosaceae “…protect their fruits and seeds (particularly the kernels of their fruit stones) by lacing them with compounds called cyanogenic glycosides that release cyanide as soon as any cells are damaged…”. But Mears is talking in general here as he is referring to the whole of the Rosaceae family, rather than one species.
Thomas J. Elpel on page 101 in his book “Botany in a Day” states “…the seeds are nutritious too and should be eaten.”
A reader picked Elpel up on this claim (again he lists no scientific reference to their edibility), saying “I’ve always been told (by at least one well-renowned primitive skills instructor) that they are inedible or even poisonous.”
Elpel replies on his website, “In twenty years I’ve never come across any reference to the seeds of rose hips being poisonous, except that they are hairy and could potentially become a choking hazard.
It is easy to make a statement of fact based on ones own personal experience. Does that mean you can trust the information? That depends, and as I have previously written, you need to proceed with caution when eating any wild food.
As far as I am concerned my family and I have no problem making a rose hip tea which includes rose hip seeds.
So what does the science say?
Well there is considerable reference to the Rosa canina seeds being nutritious and used for the treatment of chronic pain. One would think that if rose hip seeds where in anyway toxic, that it would have been made very clear in the research.
At the end of the day, you have to decide whether to try a wild food or not…
- A systematic review on the Rosa canina effect and efficacy profiles.
- The evidence for clinical efficacy of rose hip and seed: a systematic review.
- A powder made from seeds and shells of a rose-hip subspecies (Rosa canina).
- Nutrient composition of rose (Rosa canina) seed and oils.
- Rose hip (Rosa canina) oil obtained from waste hip seeds by different extraction methods.
- A one-year survey on the use of a powder from Rosa canina lito in acute exacerbations of chronic pain.
- Does the hip powder of Rosa canina (rosehip) reduce pain in osteoarthritis patients?
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Hi,
Just a word of warning regarding rosehips: the seeds are surrounded by tiny hairs which cause terrible itching. If you work with rosehips always use gloves. As kids we used the rosehip seeds as ‘itching powder’.
Hi,
I read once that by far the highest cyanide content in ‘seeds’ is the almond, and I’ve read no reports of ‘death by almond poisoning’!
Interestingly, cyandide smells strongly of almonds!
Correct Rose Hips seeds and thorns are a severe irritant and have been reported as affecting respiratory function if the seeds and hairs are ingested. Great care should be taken to remove the hairs from any juice by careful filtering several times.
Just wondering if there is any uses for the seeds, besides edibility, I know the oil can be extracted but can they be dried, ground and used in soaps for exfoliates?
Candis: No idea what other uses the seeds can be used for other than nutritional. Now you’ve got me thinking :-0
A kitchen test for cyanide I know is put the fresh crushed plant or seed in sealed jar with an insect. If cyanide is present the insect dies. Remember that the cyangenic glycosides (sp?) in a lot of plants need an acid to split them and evolve, a teaspoon of vinegar is then added and the lid replaced. I don’t know how accurate a test this is, as like most modern foragers I use proper research for unknowns. I also bare in mind everything is lethal it is just a matter of dose.
it’s interesting that in the answer above that within the part about Ray Mears, it is stated that the hips release cyanogenic glycosides when cells are damaged,I watched a documentary recently, can’t remember the title but you can find it on ovguide.com under alternative treatments for cancer. It is basically a lecture from a lawyer that represented a doctor back in the seventies in a court case that involved a pharmaceutical company and an american medical association.The doctor began successfully treating people with cancer by using an alternative method through diet- lowering protein intake-protein stimulates cell production and dietary supplements of a particular vitimin-vitamin b17- this vitamin contains amongst other things, cyanide. This alternative method didnt sit well with big pharmas profit model. Apparently the theory was that cyanide is only harmful when in a gaseous form not a solid form as it is in the case of vitamin b17. The amazing part is that the cyanide turns into a gas when in contact with another chemical- that chemical is produced in cancer cells, and only cancer cells. In the west we have become accustomed to not eating bitter food, since this vitamin exists in the bitter tasting foods, natural almonds, lemon seeds, apple seeds etc we do not get enough vitamin b17 so essentially cancer is an inability of our bodies to regulate our own healing process, through the lack of that particular vitamin through dietary preference. My understanding is that cancer is our bodies continuing to heal when they need to stop, would explain why tumors have blood supply, and the cyanide in these particular foods is a natural regulator to our natural healing process.. interesting stuff should check that doc
Well, ive just finished making some very delicious rosehip syrup, and was left with a large quantity of seeds/mush which ive been eating for most of the day, ive yet to die, but will keep you posted!
em how do you make itching powder i am trying to as experiment to keep away bad people * cos am going to london … how do you get the hairs from the seeds ???
The only thing my folk warned about the rose hip seeds was that if ingested they will make you constipated. I can’t say if that is true because I always avoided the seeds whilst every year I enjoy eating them a lot.
So if the hairs are to be avoided, am I to presume the rosehips should not be eaten raw? I have seen many articles online suggesting that consuming them raw is fine and the greatest way to benefit from their vit C. Is filtering the hairs really essential or is it just a cautionary measure for people who might be a little less adventurous?
Norm: You need to remove the hairs. They can be highly irritating to your digestive tract and mouth, especially raw!
Poisonous Rose hips
Tried Rose hip tea two days ago from a large older plant. The fruit was elongated, fairly dark from winter freeze and thaw.
I had seriously bad effects: extreme frequency urinating, intense pain in lower abdomen and various other unpleasant indications. Two days later I still don’t feel quite right.
I’ve tried this tea before with no problem, usually from Rosa rugosa fruit. This was a different species.
mst
Last year I discovered ‘wild’ rose hips and made quantities of very delicious rose hip syrup.
Today I have just been for a foraging trip & discovered rose bushes on a common nr. the sea, (in Hampshire) with very small, dark leaves and masses of small, dark red, rosehips.
Can anyone advise me about the use of these hips; most importantly, whether they are edible or to be avoided. Many thanks
Judith, all fruits of the Rose family are edible.
A few years ago I made some rose hip wine – it was fabulous. Also, with regard to the ‘cyanide’ content in the seeds: Having read a book called Cancer:Why we’re still dying to know the truth by Philip Day, I believe that a small quantity of seeds would not be harmful. In years gone by we ate more fruit with seeds, but now they tend to get left or omitted, as in seedless grapes. The content of the seeds is, apparently, helpful in fighting cancer.
Seeds of all fruit contain some cyanide which is a component that has been researched for cancer treatment as the cyanide destroys cancer cells, its also a very good anti inflammatory. If you are interested to read about the affects of B17 then google apricot kernels. If you’re bothered then you should cook the fruit as B17 is destroyed by cooking. Italians traditionally use apricot kernels for making amaretti biscuits as the cyanide has a bitter almond taste. I don’t see it has done them any harm.
I don’t know if anyone else has had the same experience; I take the rose hips off the branch with the stalk still in tact. I you hold the ripened rose hip at the sepal end and then remove the stalk. It almost pops and when you squeeze it gently the pulp oozes from the tiny opening without releasing the seeds. As long as the hip is already clean then I suck it straight from the hip. That’s got to be the shortest exposure time to get the max vitamin C.
“Oh yes I remember it well” Using the seeds as itching powder by just putting a handful of seeds down the back of someones jumper !!!! Oh how cruel we kids were. I awlays make rosehip syrup with them and have done for more than 50 years (I am 73) and I also used to eat apple seeds. Seed eating is part of the joys of childhood foraging and I loved eating the haws of hawthorn (May bush). I now juice apples every day as part of my breakfast routine, seeds as well. Still a child at heart but I now draw the line at using the hairy hip seeds as itching powder.
Have you ever heard of anyone being allergic to rosehip?