Pea Grass

[Peaches]

I searched and was supprised there wasn't already a thread about, maybe it's not common in the US.

Anyway, my question is: Is Pea Grass Safe for chins?

There is someone who is selling it online in NZ for cheap and it seems like something I could mix a small amount in with his herbal hay, just to give him a bit of variety.

 

[caiti]

I've never heard of it here. I looked it up and all I found were sites about lathyrism. I have no idea what research there is on the lethal dose in rodents, or chinchillas specifically. It'd be interesting to find out, but I can't help you--sorry!

 

[ticklechin]

Do you mean pea hay?

 

[Sandi]

Or grass pea?

I don't know anything about it but found this (the first one is a large .pdf file and very detailed) -

http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/bioversity/publications/pdfs/430.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lathyrus_sativus

http://www.croptrust.org/main/grasspea.php?itemid=32

 

[Peaches]

The people selling it describe it as Pea Grass, but I think it is what you have found Sandi.

 

[Leowyldemi]

i'm leary of it because of this, if peach wood could be toxic to chins in part because of the toxins in peach pits, couldn't it be the same be said of a grass produced from a seed with these properties?

Like other grain legumes, L. sativus produces a high-protein seed. The seeds also contain variable amounts of a neurotoxic amino acid β-N-Oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid or ODAP.[2] ODAP is considered as the cause of the disease neurolathyrism, a neurodegenerative disease that causes paralysis of the lower body: emaciation of Gluteal muscle (buttocks). The disease has been seen to occur after famines in Europe (France, Spain, Germany), North Africa, South Asia, and is still prevalent in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Afghanistan (pan handle) when Lathyrus seed is the exclusive or main source of nutrients for extended periods. Research has shown that ODAP concentration increases in plants grown under stressful conditions, compounding the problem.
Breeding programs are underway to produce lines of L. sativus that produce less ODAP.

 

[ticklechin]

Pea not peach, She is a peaches asking about pea, LOL

 

[Leowyldemi]

i know lol
i actually found that in relation to pea grass,i mentioned peach wood because if properties from the peach pits carry to the wood, then couldn't the properties of a pea grass seed carry into the grass itself?