bobm
Garden Master
In 1921 a Canadian Veterinary Pathologist found that cattle ingesting mouldy silage made from sweet clover that functioned as a potent anticoagulant and many had died from eating it. The identity of the anticoagulant substance in sweet clover was a mystery untill 1940. Through degradation experiments at University of Wisconsin, the scientists established that the anticoagulant was 3,3'-methylenebis (4-hydroxyconmrim) which they later named dicoumarol. They confirmed their results by synthasizing it and proving that it was chemically identical to the naturally occuring agent. Dicoumarol was a product of the plant molecule coumarin, which is now known to be present in many plants and produces the notably sweet smell of freshly cut grass or hay and plants like sweet grass. The plants' high content of coumarin is responsible for the origainal common name of "sweet grass". This chemical is also present notably in woodruff, and in lower levels in licorice, lavender and various other species. However, coumarins themselves do not influence clotting as warfarin - like action, but must first be metabolized by various fungi into compounds such as 4-hydroxycoumarin, then further in the presence of naturally occuring formaldehyde into dicoumarol. in order to have any anticoagulant properties. Fungal attack of the damaged and dying clover stalks explained the presence of the anticoagulant in spoiled clover silages. Dicoumaropl is considered to be a fermentation product and a mycotoxin. Today it is used as a rat / mouse killer and in lower doses as a blood thinner for human use known as coumadin and Warfarin as a trade name. So as you can see that Coumadin and the brand name Warfarin, is a perfectly natural chemical . Whether it is produced by the plant + fungi + naturally occuring formaldehyde or synthasized ... chemically it is IDENTICAL. Blue dyes come from plant extracts and/ or clays. So, what is the issue here ?
So, to be truly purist "organic " one would have to graze in the wild without one using one's hands ? 
Coumadin/ Warfarin is a blood thinner. There are many approved as "organic" , " natural" products that are just as toxic if not more so than the so called " man made chemicals". Splitting hairs ? 
