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Food Poisoning by Ginkgo biloba Seeds

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Ginkgo Biloba A Global Treasure

Abstract

Gin-nan is the Japanese word for the seed of Ginkgo biloba L. The albumen of the seed is used as a crude drug and food in China and Japan. In particular, it is used as an antitussive and expectorant in traditional medicine. However, when this substance has been taken to excess during food shortages, “Gin-nan food poisoning” has sometimes occurred in Japan [1–35] and China [36–37]. Figure 1 shows the numbers of patients with gin-nan food poisoning in Japan in our survey [1–38]. The symptoms of this poisoning are mainly convulsions and loss of consciousness. Infants and particularly children under 6 years of age made up about 74% of all patients (Fig. 2). The consequences are not serious for survivors, but mortality is about 27% in Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, Ishikari-Tobetsu, Hokkaido, 061-02, Japan

    Keiji Wada & Masanobu Haga

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  1. Keiji Wada
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  2. Masanobu Haga
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tenno-dai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305, Japan

    Terumitsu Hori Dr. (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Division of Natural Sciences, International Christian University, 3-10-2 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo, 181, Japan

    Robert W. Ridge Ph.D. (Associate Professor) (Associate Professor)

  3. Department of Science, Antioch College, 795 Livermore Street, 45387, Yellow Springs, OH, USA

    Walter Tulecke Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus) (Professor Emeritus)

  4. Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 125 Arborway, 02130, Jamaica Plain, MA, USA

    Peter Del Tredici Ph.D. (Director) (Director)

  5. Laboratory of Cellular Biology and Plant Biochemistry Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Francois Rabelais University, 31 Avenue Monge, 37200, Tours, France

    Jocelyne Trémouillaux-Guiller Dr.

  6. Faculty of Integrated Human Studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-nihonmatsu, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-01, Japan

    Hiroshi Tobe Dr. (Professor) (Professor)

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Tokyo

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Wada, K., Haga, M. (1997). Food Poisoning by Ginkgo biloba Seeds. In: Hori, T., Ridge, R.W., Tulecke, W., Del Tredici, P., Trémouillaux-Guiller, J., Tobe, H. (eds) Ginkgo Biloba A Global Treasure. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68416-9_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68416-9_24

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-68418-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-68416-9

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