Náttúrufræðingurinn - 2023, Page 53

ABSTRACT
Alcohol in Rowan- and Elderberries
in Iceland – a preliminary study
It is common belief that in late summer
and autumn birds can become intoxi-
cated by alcohol after eating berries. To
test this hypothesis samples were taken
from Rowan- and Elderberries in Sep-
tember and October 2014 for analysis
of alcohol content. The selected trees
were in Reykjavík and Kópavogur (see
Table 1). Berries were collected on 18th
September and analysed the same day.
On the same day berries were put in a
freezer and kept at -18 °C for 2 weeks.
On 2nd October the frozen berries were
analysed and fresh berries were picked
and analysed the same day. Gas chroma-
tography was used to identify and quan-
titate ethanol and methanol. In most
cases 6 samples were analysed from
each tree. Both ethanol and methanol
were found exept in elderberries where
ethanol was very low or not detectable.
Ethanol was found in concentrations
up to 5.75‰ and methanol up to 2.03‰.
These concentrations are probably suf-
ficient to cause alcohol intoxication in
birds feeding on these berries.
Við þökkum Aðalheiði Dóru Albertsdóttur og Ingi-
björgu G. Magnúsdóttur sem sáu um söfnun og með-
höndlun berja og um mælingarnar að mestu leyti.
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Magnús Helgi Jóhannsson
(f. 1942) lauk læknanámi við
Háskóla Íslands 1969 og dokt-
orsprófi við háskólann í Lundi
í Svíþjóð 1974. Hann starfaði
sem dósent og síðar prófessor
við læknadeild HÍ frá 1975 en
er nú á eftirlaunum. Starfs-
vettvangur Magnúsar við HÍ var Rannsóknastofa í
lyfja- og eiturefnafræði.
Magnús Helgi Jóhannsson
Selbrekku 14, 200 Kópavogi | magjoh@hi.is
Kristín Magnúsdóttir (f. 1951)
er lyfjafræðingur og starfaði
sem deildarstjóri á Rann-
sóknastofu í lyfja- og eitur-
efnafræði við HÍ frá 1975. Hún
starfaði lengst af við mælingar
á alkóhóli í lífsýnum. Kristín er
nú á eftirlaunum.
Kristín Magnúsdóttir
kristmag@hi.is
UM HÖFUNDA
141
Ritrýnd grein / Peer reviewed