This fern is consumed by livestock. It is also considered a gourmet food in Japan and some few other places. Pterosins have been tentatively considered as the bracken-poisoning factor. Widespread hemorrhagy follows with subsequent death. Among livestock, cattle is the most susceptible.
Horses are highly resistant.
The study of coumarin yielded the development of warfarin, a broadly used rat poison. 11 - Coumarin Saponin Foaming is the easiest recognizable characteristic of saponins. In water saponins form a honeycomb-like foam due to its surface tensoactive properties. Many legume temperate or tropical forages, soybeans and beans have saponins. Saponins do not prevent bloat in ruminants, as initially suggested.