Purple cockle
General poisoning notes:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma
githago) is a naturalized herb found across southern Canada. The seeds are
contaminants of wheat seeds and they are considered to be poisonous to poultry,
cattle, and humans. Human poisoning is rare. Feeding trials have been conducted
with ground seeds, which are unappetizing to poultry (Quigley and Waite 1931).
Nomenclature:
Scientific Name: Agrostemma githago L.
Vernacular
name(s): purple cockle
Scientific family
name: Caryophyllaceae
Vernacular family
name: pink
Geographic Information
Alberta, British
Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec,
Saskatchewan.
Toxic parts:
Seeds.
Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma
githago) contains the saponin githagin, which is toxic mainly to poultry.
The toxin is destroyed in seeds at 50 C. The following quantities have been
found to be toxic in experiments with animals:
calf
0.0025% of body weight, poultry 0.0025% , pig 0.0010%, dog 0.0009%
Most
feeding experiments have been conducted on chickens (Quigley and Waite 1931;
Heuser and Schumacher 1942).
Toxic plant chemicals:
Githagenin
(aka Githagin, aka Gypsogenin) is one of a number toxic of triterpene saponins
present in Corn-cockle. Agrostemmic Acid
is another. Together with a
non-protein amino acid, orcylalanin and a lectin agrostin make the seeds of
Corn-cockle especially poisonous, but all parts of the plant contain some
toxins. Formerly widespread as a weed amongst cereal crops, the seeds of
Corn-cockle presented a particular contaminatory hazard to the harvest. The
seeds are lethal in amounts greater than just 5 grams. Symptoms include mucosal
irritation, dizziness, vomiting, diarhoea, respiratory distress, headache,
pains in the spine, tachycardia, paralysis coma followed by death. Poisoning of
humans and livestock used to be a common occurrence, but after several decades
of herbicidal spraying, it is more or less extinct in arable fields.
Animals/Human Poisoning:
Note: When an
animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993)
contained no detailed explanation.
Humans
General symptoms of
poisoning:
Breathing,
shallow, diarrhea, dizziness, stomach cramps, vomiting, weakness.
Notes on poisoning:
Purple cockle (Agrostemma
githago) seeds can contaminate wheat because the seeds are difficult to
screen. Highly contaminated wheat is unsalable. The seeds are a danger if
present in home-ground wheat, corn, or oats (Hardin and Arena 1969).
Poultry
General symptoms of
poisoning:
appetite, loss of
breathing, labored
death
diarrhea
gait, staggering
heart, cheesy
material
mouth, cheesy
material.
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