Amygdalin — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

Amygdalin, $C_{20}H_{27}NO_{11} \cdot 3H_2O$ , is a crystalline principle existing in the kernel of bitter almonds, the leaves of the Prunus lauro-cerasus, and various other plants, which, by distillation, yield hydrocyanic acid. It is obtained, by extraction with boiling alcohol, from the paste or cake of bitter almonds, which remains after the fixed oil has been separated by pressure. When obtained pure, it has a sweetish, somewhat bitter taste, and is not poisonous, and when treated with alkaline solvents, ammonia is expelled, and amygdalic acid, $C_{20}H_{26}O_{12}$ , is produced. Its most remarkable change is, however, that which is noticed in the article Volatile Oil of Almonds (q.v.), and which may be thus briefly stated. When the bruised almond kernel, or almond paste, is brought in contact with water, the peculiar odour of bitter almonds is almost immediately evolved; and in twenty-four hours all traces of amygdalin will have disappeared, its place being taken by essential oil of almonds, hydrocyanic acid, sugar, and formic acid. This transformation is due to the presence of a peculiar nitrogenous matter called Emulsin (q.v.), or synaptase, which sets up a kind of fermentation.