The seeds are edible, but should be cooked before being eaten. Caragana arborescens contains the non proteinogenic amino acid L-canavanine and may store from nearly 6 to 13% L-canavanine by dry weight.
Edible seeds require pre-cooking for safe consumption. Caragana arborescens has a unique amino acid profile, containing L-canavanine, which can comprise up to 13% of its dry weight.