The toxic principle of Acacia georginae

Abstract

Serious stock losses from Acacia georginae poisoning have occurred in north-western Queensland and the Northern Territory.
The toxic principle was isolated in a pure form from the seed of A. georginae by extractive and chromatographic procedures and identified as fluoroacetic acid. Confirmation of chemical composition was obtained by gas chromatography and infra-red absorption spectroscopy. A method of quantitative estimation was developed.
Both sheep and rats showed similar clinical symptoms and post-mortem findings when dosed either with an aqueous extract of the toxic principle from A. georginae or with an aqueous solution of authentic fluoroacetic acid of equivalent concentration.