Does the consumption of cycad seed flour cause serious disease?
Investigators found that large doses of an unusual amino acid found in cycad seeds, BMAA, causes acute neurological symptoms in primates. However, other researchers reported that the free amino acid is effectively removed when Chamorros wash cycad flour in water. When we hydrolyzed the proteins in washed cycad flour, we found a 50 to 100 fold increase in total BMAA. We now know that there are multiple inputs of BMAA into the Chamorro diet including protein-bound BMAA in cycad flour and BMAA absorbed by animals which forage on cycad seeds.
