Sodium cyanide and its rapid detoxification by grape juice.

Recently media attention has been focused on minute traces of cyanide found in grapes supposedly injected with cyanide. No more than minute traces of cyanide are likely to be found within a few hours of cyanide ion injection into grapes. Free cyanide ion in grape juice is quickly converted to ammonia upon spontaneous saponification of the cyanohydrins rapidly formed from the reaction of cyanide with sugars. Mice offered 10-fold diluted grape juice 24 hr after the addition of 2 g NaCN/100 ml juice showed no evident signs of illness for a period of 1 week during which access to all other fluids was denied.