Are the seeds from bay trees poisonous

On the 5th of February 2016 Viktoria Vukics left me a comment/question in the original bay leaf post from September 7th, 2010:

"Hello there! Thanks for this interesting article. Its so good that someone has cleared up this pseudo-myth on a scientific basis. Theres so often confusion about the uses and safety of herbs. I also heard the bay seeds to be poisonous. Do you think its true? One even sais that its unsafe to crush or press the berries to obtain the fixed oil. I would appreciate your opinion on the matter, Victoria"

I am quite busy these days; it took me a while to be able to find reliable documentation supporting an answer. Here is what I could find with some solid scientific basis.

The bay tree contains small fragrant black (when ripen) shiny olive-like berries of about 1.3 cm long. These are apparently edible as there are anecdotal reports that birds actually love them. Even though historically the berries have been used mainly for medicinal purposes, a lot of the information available on the web regarding how edible or toxic these berries are, comes from popular knowledge. But two very good articles point towards their safety.

The berries of Bay Laurel contain among other essential oils, eugenol, acetyl eugenol, methyl eugenol, terpineol, cineol, geraniol and 1-8-cineole [1] [3]. These are responsible for the attractive spicy aroma in them. Some people report that infusion containing such berries relieve flatulence and can soothe gastric problems. I personally could not find any scientific suggestions on the flatulence part. However, these berries are quite substantially used in the food industry as seasoning and coloring agents for soups, meat, fish, beverages, etc, and even as food preservatives due to their proven antimicrobial potency (capable of inactivating for instance E. coli, S. typhimurium and S. aureus [3]) and also showing some potential as insecticide [2].  

In conclusion, the Laurus nobilis berries are a good natural source of anthocyanins; these are non-toxic water-soluble vacuolar pigments that change color depending on pH, and have antioxidant properties. 

With my online research I could not find any documents reporting toxicity associated to the fruits/berries of the Bay laurel tree/plant. If any of you find literature on the toxic/poisonous potential of the L. nobilis berries, please share with us.

[1] Laurus Nobilis, Floridata Plant Encyclopaedia, [http://www.floridata.com/Plants/Lauraceae/Laurus%20nobilis/733], last visited on the 29th of February 2016, last updated on the 24th of February 2005.

[2] Longo, L and Vasapollo, G. (2005). "Anthocyanins from Bay (Laurus nobilis L.) Berries". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 53, pp. 8063-8067. 

[3] Dadalioglu, I. and Evrendilek, G. A. (2004). "Chemical compositions and antibacterial effects of essential oils of Turkish oregano (Origanum minutiflorum), Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis), Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas L.), and Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) on common  foodborne pathogens". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 52, pp. 8255-8260.

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Survival of the Poisonous Snake VS Common Sense

The absurd number of horrid videos posted on YouTube where moccasin snakes are decapitated by Chinese gourmet chefs is ridiculous. It is also ridiculous the number of vile videos mocking the fact that some snakes end up biting their own bodies even when decapitated, in case they sense fear. 

As a vegetarian it really damages me to watch such, thus, I simply dont. As an animal rights supporter I say people can eat whatever they feel like, since I believe in respect for other options and opinions, just dont make a gore fest out of your basic needs. It is wrong. What can possibly be funny about the gore fest images of a head, regardless of its origin, being chopped and then we just stand there watching the head battle for life whilst the blood very slowly cools down to death??? What?

On some occasions fate plays an important role in teaching people the need for a change of attitude, increasing respect for animal life and above all, the need for common sense. Yes, common sense, that same thing Descartes used as topic for one of his dissertations. Descartes ironically said and I quote:

"Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have".

However, this is also a case of BLATANT IGNORANCE. When you are a professional cook dealing with so-called rare delicacies, you must know that "all reptiles head can function up to one hour even after being severed" as mentioned by a reptile expert in the video. Should I be sorry for the person? I am human thus I must be sorry for the poor guy, but I am also tremendously sorry for the snake, despite whatever feelings that might urge in peoples consciences. One thing is to kill when threatened, and other thing is to kill for pleasure... and cooking a rare delicacy is hedonism, pure hedonism, and has nothing of basic need for survival.

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Poisonous Pufferfish vs Eel when failing is actually winning !

This time I had to borrow some incredible images [1] of an attack perpetrated by an improvident Eel against a Poisonous "Fugu" Puffer fish. Dumb idiot!!!. These are the worlds most toxic group of fish containing tetrodotoxin in their livers, gonads and skin [2]. Since there is no specific treatment for humans that come into contact with this potent neurotoxin the best remedy is prevention. Unless you are really hungry like this Eel.

 

[1] Worlds weirdest: Poisonous Puffer fish vs. Eel, National geographic, [http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/weirdest-pufferfish], last visited on the 22nd of May 2015, last update unknown. 

[2] Ahasan, H. A. M. N., Karim, S. R., Bakar, M. A., Gazi, E. A., Bala, C. S. (2004). "Paralytic complications of Puffer Fish (Tetrodoxin) Poisoning". Singapore Medical Journal, 45(20, pp. 73-74.

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