I was drawn to this topic by the mention of
bison grass. Several years ago I plowed under the back yard (about 2 acres) and planted “
buffalo grass” and trees. This (my) perennial grass is very hardy but almost waist tall when mature in the summer and grows in clumps. Can't quite find its likeness on
Google images... A horse will eat most everything else in the yard before turning to this tough grass.
Coumarin is the questionable substance in Bison Grass.
- it has the sweet scent of newly-mown hay
- found also in strawberries, black currants, apricots, and cherries.
- phytol and coumarin (chemicals) found in sweetgrass - repels mosquitoes.
- coumarin is often found in artificial vanilla substitutes
- Germany has established a tolerable daily intake of 0.1 mg coumarin per kg body weight, but also advises that higher intake for a short time is not dangerous
-not considered carcinogenic in the U.S.
-banned in 1954 (U.S.) as food additive - because of rat lab rat livers
-specifically more dangerous to the livers of just rats than to those of mice; only somewhat dangerous to livers of humans
- {Quote Wikipedia} “Alcoholic beverages sold in the European Union are limited to a maximum of 10 mg/l coumarin by law. Cinnamon flavor is generally cassia bark steam-distilled to concentrate the cinnamaldehyde, for example, to about 93%. Clear cinnamon-flavored alcoholic beverages generally test negative for coumarin, but if whole cassia bark is used to make mulled wine, then coumarin shows up in significant levels”.