Warning of cassava poisoning

This is an automatically translated article.

Cassava is a food from the roots turned into tubers of the manioc plant Manihot of the family Euphorbiacae. In cassava peel contains a heteroizite, when in water will be hydrolyzed into cyanhydric acid, acetone and glucose. Therefore, the toxicity of cassava is mainly caused by cyanhydric acid. If this substance is absorbed about 20mg with a person weighing about 50kg, it will be cassava poisoning and 50mg will lead to death.

1. Why is it poisoned when eating cassava?

Cassava is a food from the roots turned into tubers of the manioc plant Manihot of the family Euphorbiacae. In cassava has a toxin of the glucoside type, when it meets digestive enzymes, water or acid will hydrolyze and release cyanhydric acid (HCN), a poison that can be deadly. The lethal dose is 1mg/kg body weight. For adults, the toxic dose is 20mg of cyanhydri acid, the fatal dose is 50mg of cyanhydric acid for adults weighing about 50kg, for the elderly, children and infirm people, the dose will be lower. Symptoms of poisoning with severe acute or mild poisoning will depend on the amount of cassava eaten more or less..
Any type of cassava contains glucoside with an average content of 3-5 mg %. The more bitter the taste of cassava, the higher the amount of glucoside, sometimes up to 10-15 mg%. Adults only need to eat about 200 grams of this cassava can lead to poisoning. Cases of severe cassava poisoning are often caused by eating raw, undercooked, baked cassava or eating cassava with the skin on. If cassava is grown in a new land and has a bitter taste, the higher the amount of toxins contained in it.
MORE: Should you drink raw cassava?

2. Symptoms of cassava poisoning

Cassava is a popular food in Vietnam. When eating cassava is not carefully processed, it is possible to be poisoned with cyanhydric acid. In cassava peel contains a heteroizite when in water will be hydrolyzed into cyanhydric acid, acetone and glucose, so the toxicity of cassava is mainly due to cyanhydric acid. Severe acute cassava poisoning is common in children under 5 years of age or when eating cassava on an empty stomach.
Toxic cyanhydric acid, when entering the blood, will inhibit the activity of cytochrome oxidase enzymes, making cells and organizations unable to use oxygen of the blood, leading to hypoxia in tissues. In addition, it also affects the respiratory, vasomotor, and thermoregulatory centers in the medulla oblongata,...
Symptoms of cassava poisoning usually appear after eating about 3-7 hours. Depending on the case, the state of cassava poisoning has different clinical manifestations, can be severe acute poisoning or mild and slower poisoning.

2.1. In case of severe acute poisoning

Patient feels nausea, headache, dizziness, irritated tongue numb. After that, there are manifestations of neurological disorders, the patient is in a state of fear, panic, convulsions, muscle spasms and jaw stiffness like dilated pupils, tetanus, breathing rate slowly, pale face, respiratory and heart paralysis,... If the patient is not given immediate medical attention, he may die after 30 minutes. On the contrary, if the patient is given emergency treatment and timely treatment, the patient will be out of danger, his health condition will be completely restored without leaving any sequelae.

2.2. For mild poisoning cases

Usually occurs slowly and appears with symptoms such as dizziness, headache, burning sensation, red eyes, dry throat and nose, nausea and vomiting, pharyngeal constriction, body fatigue, aches and pains, dizziness, .. Patients just need to lie down, drink a cup of hot sugar water, they will return to normal.
MORE: What is the effect of cassava?

3. Treatment of severe acute cassava poisoning

When food poisoning caused by eating cassava with severe acute manifestations, it is necessary to make the patient vomit by usual measures and quickly transfer the patient to the nearest hospital for further treatment. At the hospital, perform gastric lavage with 1‰ KMnO4 solution. Use methylene blue as Coloxyd, Glutylene 1% solution, 10ml tube for slow intravenous injection. If the poisoning is severe, inject 1 ampoule every 10-15 minutes, within 24 hours, 5-6 ampoules can be injected for adults.
May be substituted with sodium nitrite 1% 10ml and slow intravenous injection, if methylene blue is not available. Then inject 20% sodium hyposulfite with 10-20ml slow intravenous injection. Infuse 500ml 30% glucose solution and isotonic glucose solution, give the victim sugar water to drink. Support respiratory and cardiovascular by injecting camphor, caffeine, lobelin, maybe even oxygen and respiratory support if needed.

4. Prevention of poisoning when eating cassava or bamboo shoots

Cassava is a common food, when eating cassava it is necessary to have understanding and attention to processing to limit the toxicity in cassava and prevent poisoning, not to let unfortunate deaths happen. out. For cassava, cyanhydric acid is mainly concentrated at the two ends of the tubers, the skin and the core of the cassava tubers.
Characteristic of the poison in cassava is very volatile, they dissolve easily in cold water as well as hot water. When oxidized or combined with a sugar substance, it will be converted into a non-toxic substance. Based on this characteristic of cassava, if you know how to process it properly, the toxic content will be eliminated to a large extent. After being peeled, soaked in water for a while, boiled and cooled, the toxic content is reduced to only 30% of the original.
The toxic content will be reduced to very little and not capable of causing toxicity to people when processed in the form of cut into slices to dry, processed into tapioca flour, kudzu, ... To prevent these cases cassava poisoning, especially for children and not to die from cassava poisoning, people need to take good measures such as not to eat a lot of cassava on an empty stomach, should not give children under 3 age of eating cassava.
When processing cassava, should peel off the skin and soak it in water for a while, then boil it. When eating, if you find that the cassava has a bitter taste, you should throw it away. At night, eat cassava with sweet sugar or with sweet potatoes to neutralize toxins. Attention should be paid to early detection of cases of cassava poisoning to take timely measures to avoid unfortunate deaths.
In summary, cassava is one of the important and familiar foods in rural, midland and mountainous areas. Cassava is also a source of economic development for many households. However, cassava is a food that can cause poisoning and there are cases of death that cannot be treated in time. Therefore, to avoid being poisoned by cassava, it is necessary to process it properly and take effective preventive measures.

Please dial HOTLINE for more information or register for an appointment HERE. Download MyVinmec app to make appointments faster and to manage your bookings easily.