What is prussic acid and how is it formed in green flax?
Green flax contains a sugar compound called cyanogenic glycoside. This substance itself is not harmful. When trauma to the plant occurs, plant cells rupture, allowing the cyanogenic glycoside to mix with the enzyme beta glycosidase (ß-gycosidase) and triggering a reaction that converts the cyanogenic glycoside into a new compound called hydrocyanic acid (hydrogen cyanide) or prussic acid. When consumed, the hydrogen cyanide is absorbed into the bloodstream and acts to prevent the oxygen in the blood from being released from the haemoglobin to tissue cells. As a result, the animal dies of asphyxiation. Rumen bacteria can also create a prussic acid poisoning scenario. Certain bacteria in the rumen producing a ß-gycosidase enzyme will also convert green flax cynogenic glycosides into prussic acid even without a frost occurring. The trauma on the green plant caused by trampling and chewing releases the cyanogenic glycoside into the rumen environment where the enzyme is present. This too wi
