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By Harold McGee
Published 2004
Toxic amino acids are unusual versions of the building blocks for our proteins that interfere with proper protein functioning. Canavanine interferes with several cell functions and has been associated with the development of lupus; it’s found in large quantities in alfalfa sprouts and the jack bean. Vicine and convicine in the fava bean cause a blood-cell-destroying anemia, favism, in susceptible people.
From the book On Food and Cooking (2nd edition) by Harold McGee. © 2004 Harold McGee. By permission of Scribner, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.