The Investigation of Poisons in Pulses and Cereals

Wilson, Andrew (1937) The Investigation of Poisons in Pulses and Cereals. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The food of today may be the poison of tomorrow. In many respects the truth of this has been borne out in a remarkable way as man's knowledge has progressed concerning his "daily bread". Cereals have always formed the major part of man's diet and have generally been regarded as entirely wholesome. Yet such diseases as pellagra and beri-beri have been associated with the over-consumption of two of these cereals, maize and rice, while scurvy and rickets are now regarded as definite dietary disturbances. Modern methods of milling and preparing food-stuffs are no doubt responsible for many changes, but increasing knowledge of the constituents of food-stuffs has resulted in the rejection or alteration of many substances which were at one time established as staple articles of diet. In a series of researches carried out during a period of more than 20 years, Stockman has studied the effects of feeding leguminous seeds and cereals. He concluded that lathyrus poisoning in animals and lathyrism in man was due to a poison present in the peas and was not attributable to any "deficiency" disease. In a study of the causes of pellagra he concluded from a large series of experiments on animals that the disease was caused by an acid or acids which were not only poisonous in themselves, but which had. a secondary effect of gradually or suddenly withdrawing alkalies, especially calcium, from the blood and tissues. He produced evidence that there was no question of deficiency or avitaminosis. Further, he suggested the possibility of cereals and diets other than maize contributing to this condition. While pellagra exists as a maize disease, he suggested the possibility of other cereals as causative factors.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Keywords: Food science
• Date of Award: 1937
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:1937-80101
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 03 Mar 2020 09:08
• Last Modified: 03 Mar 2020 09:08
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/80101