The fruit of the “white lotus” pong-pong tree is really so dangerous

This article contains spoiler for the ending of season 3 of “The White Lotus”.

After the season finale Of “The White Lotus”, the spectators may never look at a Piña Colada again in the same way.

Timothy Ratliff’s murder-suicide fantasies (played by Jason Isaacs) focus carefully during the episode, as his family faces an uncertain future. He decides to poison them with the seeds of the fruit of the pong-pong tree rather than facing their disappointment for having lost their luck.

A hotel worker from the luxurious Thai resort has already warned Ratliff of the tree toxicity. In the season finale, the same worker inadvertently gives him the instructions on how to extract the poison from the seeds of what the premises call “the suicide tree”.

But what is the true story behind the pong?

What is the pong-pong fruit?

The Pont-Pong trees, or Cerbera Odollam, are indigenous in the South and South-East Asian, Tropical Pacific islands and parts of Australia, According to the National Tropical Botanical Garden, A research garden in Hawaii.

The fruit is two to four inch long and turns from green to red while it ripens. Ty Matejowsky, the president of the Department of Anthropology of the University of Central Florida, specialized in cultural anthropology and food studies, said that the fruit cardiotoxin of the fruit is concentrated in seed kernels, “almost like a peaches hole”.

The tree is similar to the oleander plant in the United States, said dr. Matejowsky. Like the Eleander, the pong-pong tree has “a really pleasant aesthetic quality but it is very dangerous in terms of consumption”. The same toxin can be found in Lily of the Valley and Foxglove plants.

How poisonous is it?

The pong-pong fruit contains toxin Cerberin, a type of cardiac glycoside that attacks a pump in the heart that controls sodium and potassium levels in the body. A low dose of a cardiac glycoside can help increase the contraction of a heart, but too much can be fatal, said Dr. Mary Wormuth, a medical toxicologist of the University of Indiana who oversaw the Pong-Pong poisoning patients.

What is equivalent to a fatal dose of kernel pong-pong depends on the underlying conditions of a person, said dr. Wormuth, but some research suggests Only one seed may be necessary. Vomiting and nausea can be the first symptoms when heart rate decreases.

What is the story of its use?

Due to its toxic qualities, Pong-Pong was used for suicide attempts in the regions in which it grows. It was also used in “Calvary tests” for generations, said dr. Matejowsky. Until the beginning of the twentieth century in Madagascar, for example, Pong-Pong fruits were used as a way to determine the fault or innocence of individuals who had been accused of witchcraft. If they were guilty, they would die to ingest the pong-pong fruit and, if innocent, would be saved from the supernatural intervention.

“It is a way to put the burden on the supernatural to express these judgments of life or death, while the people who are meeting the punishment of the crimes to feel guilty are isolated,” he said.

Could Lochlan Ratliff really survived?

In a study Coaut with other toxicologists Throughout the country, Dr. Wormuth and his colleagues discovered that the first symptoms of pong-pong poisoning could appear three hours after ingestion. In the end of Sunday, Lochlan Ratliff (played by Sam Nivola) tires in a few minutes from the accidental ingestion of powdered fruit seeds.

It is also difficult to say whether a small sip by Piña Coladas Leccata Pong-Pong-che The other members of the Ratliff family consume-point cause problems, said dr. Wormuth. But in the case of Lochlan, its survival could be a case of television drama and the suspension of medical disbelief.

“Could it survived? Of course,” he said. “But it depends on how much he got. It could be that he was only nausea and vomiting, and his heart has not stopped beating.”

If he had not miraculously recovered, the youngest Ratliff would have received an antidote called Digossin Immune Fab, which is supplied in the most emergency departments of the hospital.

Follow New York Times Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Tiktok AND Pinterest. Get regular updates from the New York Times cuisine, with suggestions for recipes, cooking tips and shopping tips.