Apple seeds contain very small amounts of cyanide. Eating an occasional apple core won’t kill you but too many apple seeds in a short amount of time will. I think this is why we instinctively avoid eating apple cores.
To be at risk of cyanide poisoning from apple seeds, you would need to consume a significant amount of crushed seeds, with estimates ranging from 150 to several thousand. The exact number depends on the apple variety. Apple seeds contain amygdalin, a compound that can release cyanide. The cyanide content is around 700 milligrams of hydrogen cyanide per apple seed. A lethal dose of cyanide is approximately 50-300 milligrams. Therefore, you would have to eat roughly 1,000 apple seeds to reach a lethal dose. Some calculations suggest that consuming slightly more than 250,000 seeds would be fatal. Eating 29-38 apple cores, assuming each apple has 6-8 seeds, could cause serious harm. You’d have to eat upwards of 20 apples in one sitting and chew all the seeds to be affected.
Apple seeds contain very small amounts of cyanide. Eating an occasional apple core won’t kill you but too many apple seeds in a short amount of time will. I think this is why we instinctively avoid eating apple cores.
TL;DR: this is simply not true in practice
To be at risk of cyanide poisoning from apple seeds, you would need to consume a significant amount of crushed seeds, with estimates ranging from 150 to several thousand. The exact number depends on the apple variety. Apple seeds contain amygdalin, a compound that can release cyanide. The cyanide content is around 700 milligrams of hydrogen cyanide per apple seed. A lethal dose of cyanide is approximately 50-300 milligrams. Therefore, you would have to eat roughly 1,000 apple seeds to reach a lethal dose. Some calculations suggest that consuming slightly more than 250,000 seeds would be fatal. Eating 29-38 apple cores, assuming each apple has 6-8 seeds, could cause serious harm. You’d have to eat upwards of 20 apples in one sitting and chew all the seeds to be affected.