Is avocado skin poisonous to humans???

**CrystalChord** · 03-16-2011 12:07 PM

I was just eating a salad and I chewed on something that felt really tough almost like chewing a wood chip. I was in a restaurant and so I discreetly spat it out in a napkin and when I left, I found a private, closed off spot where I could examine what it was that had been in my mouth.

The foreign body looked like avocado skin. It was dark, and sort of firm, I had to use a fingernail to break it apart. It was only a little bit, but I'm concerned that some of it may have gotten into my system.

Is avocado skin poisonous to humans? Am I in any danger?

**WildChild** · 03-16-2011 12:32 PM

The entire plant is toxic to horses, dogs, some birds and guinea pigs. But you aren't one of those. The skin may be mildly toxic to humans but I've never heard of anyone getting ill from it. Why don't you do a search on the subject?

**ItsASecret** · 03-16-2011 01:50 PM

No your fine. The chemical that people will talk about that is present in avocado LEAVES, BARK, SKIN and PIT is called persin. There will be persin present in the fruit because of leaching from the skin and pit of the avocado but persin is NOT HARMFUL TO HUMANS. Persin can kill other animals like horses, rabbits, dogs, and cats. Persin is actually being studied in the case of breast cancer, it is NOT harmful to us.

The only thing that can come from persin is an allergic reaction if that person is allergic. This is the case with literally any fruit or food, there is always someone allergic to something.

**CrystalChord** · 03-16-2011 02:23 PM

Okay, thank you both of you! ^_^

I love avocado, so this little incident won't put me off from eating it. And right now the only thing I'm allergic to is Spring, ha ha. Darn you seasonal allergies! Thank you very much for this!