Evolution and cooking toxic plants

[Pepper Pig Profile]

This is fascinating (well I think so). I must try and find the broadcast.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48859333

The only edible things I can think of that I’ve been warned not to cook with are rhubarb leaves and green potatoes, but they might just be my granny’s Old Wives Tales.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Yes, I read that, recommended by someone on Twitter, really interesting

You shouldn’t eat rhubarb leaves as they contain enough oxalis acid to be toxic - but also enough to be very unpleasant. Many green leaves (spinach, sorrel) contain a little oxalis acid

Green potatoes are toxic, but the odd one escaping the net won’t matter.

Always remember the dose makes the poison - for example too much vitamin A is toxic but a small amount is essential

[Suffs Profile]

Tomatoes and potatoes are members of the solanum family. Tomatoes are safe to eat. The fruits of the potato plant, which look like tomatoes, are toxic.

[Joanbunting Profile]

I did hear those broadcasts on the World Service. I know about casava and also about dried red kidney beans. I can't imagine anyone ever wanting to eat rhubarb leaves, no matter how desperate. there was a story in local papers a couple of years ago about how a couple of campers had killed themselves by eating the spring shoots of a particular plant, whose name I can't remember. but it grows quite big and had large white bell shaped flowers. Anyway they picked it as a wild salad.

[Binky Profile]

and there are always stories each year of people poisoning themselves by picking and eating mushrooms.

You either die or have a lifetime of kidney dialysis.

So, for me, unless it's sold and labelled by a reliable shop, then I won't be picking wild plants or fungi.

[Joanbunting Profile]

I have few problems about picking wild mushrooms because I was taught by an expert and anyway if you are not 100% sure in France you can pop into the nearest pharmacy for adivice. i also happily pick wild berries and such things as quinces and sloes. To pick bits of unidentified green stuff is somewhat foolish.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

The last multiple death I remember from wild mushrooms in England was an Asian couple who were experts in their native country but didn’t appreciate quite how different the fungi would be here

I meant of course rhubarb contains oxalic acid not oxalis, flippin’ autocorrect

[scullion Profile]

So, for me, unless it's sold and labelled by a reliable shop, then I won't be picking wild plants or fungi.

that's a shame, there are plenty of things out there that are really good to eat. i love rock samphire and horse mushrooms, you never see those in a shop.
try going on a foraging course (or two) - there is so much you can eat in the outdoors that tastes really good!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I will pick and eat the ones I’m sure of
Some are so obvious there’s really no problem if you are paying attention

Blackberries, obviously, also sloes, bullace, damsons- but I’d be just as sure of these as I would of blackberries:-

Wild garlic (ramsons)

Some seaweeds
Samphire

Even some fungi- in the UK there’s nothing you could confuse with boletus edulis - cepe, porcini or penny bun mushroom once you’ve seen a genuine example, that’s an easy one. also puffballs, and a few others.

And people who regularly pick these things know good sites where they grow reliably and, a point often overlooked, exactly when it’s likely to be ready. If you find an autumn fungus in Spring, your identification is off

[karadekoolaid Profile]

cassava root ( known as "yuca" here) is a very common vegetable; but it seems there are TWO varieties. The edible variety here is just plain old yuca, whereas "yuca amarga" (bitter yuca) is often deadly. The difference is (a) the skin is thicker (b) the flesh is pinkish/orangy, not white like the edible stuff. So I think our writer has not quite got his facts right. There have been many cases in Venezuela in the past few years, unfortunately.
I suppose that delicacies like Fugu or lion fish was a question of trial and error. Those who ate it raw, passed on,while those who cooked it, lived.
cashew nuts are also poisonous if eaten raw. They must be either roasted or steamed to become edible.
Many spices can also be poisonous - the Tonka bean ( a source of cumarin - rat poison!) and the nutmeg (myristicin - causes hallucinations and possible liver/kidney failure) are two examples. However, you´d have to eat about 2 ounces to get poisoned.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

That’s the point - the dose makes the poison

Myristin is also a hallucinogenic and there have been deaths of people eating nutmeg to get high (you are probably more likely to bring it up than either have an enjoyable experience or die)

Coumarins (there’s a whole family of them) are present in many plants, and are part of the smell of hay - also bison grass and pandanus (screwpine, kewra), which are to me very similar odoursPerfectly safe to eat in normal amounts unless you are sensitive to them. And it’s coumarins in grapefruit that lead it to mess up the metabolism of statins and some other drugs

I found a good but fairly technical monograph just to check my coumarin chemistry https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/coumarins
This reminded me that they are present in carrots, celery, and parsnips and told me something I never knew - that the name comes from the tonka bean, known as coumarin many years ago