Toxicity of thornapple (Datura stramonium L) seeds to the pig

Experimental work reported here, together with a review of the available published work, indicates an intake of Datura stramonium seeds equivalent to a dose of about 1.5 mg alkaloid per kg body-weight as a threshold level for the expression of mild toxicity symptoms in the pig. The pig can very effectively reject whole seeds in the diet and whole seeds ingested may pass through the gut intact. Thornapple seems far less likely to cause poisoning in the housed pig than is generally believed. The standard text misquotes the findings of earlier work by a factor of 250.