A 3-year-old child is brought to casualty after swallowing three whole, intact seeds of Abrus precatorius picked up in a garden. She is asymptomatic. The reason serious toxicity is unlikely in this scenario is:

• A Abrin is completely destroyed by gastric acid
• B Abrin is detoxified by salivary amylase before absorption
• C Intact seeds pass through the gut without releasing abrin because of the hard seed coat ✓
• D The lethal dose exceeds fifty whole seeds in children

Explanation

Swallowing whole rosary pea seeds is usually harmless because the extremely hard, waxy testa resists digestion and the seeds pass unchanged in stool. Poisoning occurs only when the seed coat is breached, by chewing, crushing, or deliberate use of seed extracts or 'sui' needles. Gastric acid does not reliably destroy abrin, salivary enzymes have no such role, and the reported lethal dose of chewed seeds is one to two in adults, so options A, B and D are all incorrect statements.

Reference: Parikh's Textbook of Medical Jurisprudence and Toxicology, 8th ed.

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Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.