A toxic alkaloid compound found in some avena (oat) plants, particularly in certain wild oat species.
From Latin 'avena' (oat) plus the chemical suffix '-in' (used for alkaloids and organic compounds). This term was created by chemists studying toxic compounds in wild oat relatives.
Some wild oats contain avenin, which is toxic, but humans selectively bred oats for thousands of years to remove toxins—it's a hidden story in every bowl of oatmeal: ancient farmers unknowingly did genetic engineering by saving seeds from the least-toxic plants.
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