In this day and age of litigation and legal liability, it is difficult to share such information in an authoritative way. If someone else acts on your "advice" and runs into trouble then you might find yourself in a world of pain. Any thoughts on how to strategise/manage the risk of learning how to consume a potentially toxic plant? Common kidney beans can be deadly if not prepared properly, so this isnt unique to wild plants.
Thanks for the reminder, I forgot to put a disclaimer at the top. Though it's not as though a bag of potatoes comes with one either (!)
I find this whole niche of plants that are "allegedly toxic but actually edible in the right conditions" fascinating. I don't know if there's a term for them, but there should be if there isn't. Stephen Bartsow coined the term "edimental" for edible ornamental plants, but that doesn't quite do it justice.
I've seen protocols on how to start eating an unknown plant in a safe way so I guess I should dredge that up and review it. I wonder how our ancestors did it. Though of course, there's always the lingering spectre of slow acting compounds that pass all tests. That's why research papers are important.
Sounds like a great article on strategies for assessing unknown edibility. Look forward to reading it. A few case studies of slow acting toxins could be interesting. I know of the cycad seeds used as staples by some native populations that caused slow neurotoxicity due to unnatural amino acids.
I have a lot of bryony growing in the hedgerows around my field. Would you like me to send you some berries?
Thanks, I ordered some seeds from the only source I could find online so let's see!
In this day and age of litigation and legal liability, it is difficult to share such information in an authoritative way. If someone else acts on your "advice" and runs into trouble then you might find yourself in a world of pain. Any thoughts on how to strategise/manage the risk of learning how to consume a potentially toxic plant? Common kidney beans can be deadly if not prepared properly, so this isnt unique to wild plants.
Thanks for the reminder, I forgot to put a disclaimer at the top. Though it's not as though a bag of potatoes comes with one either (!)
I find this whole niche of plants that are "allegedly toxic but actually edible in the right conditions" fascinating. I don't know if there's a term for them, but there should be if there isn't. Stephen Bartsow coined the term "edimental" for edible ornamental plants, but that doesn't quite do it justice.
I've seen protocols on how to start eating an unknown plant in a safe way so I guess I should dredge that up and review it. I wonder how our ancestors did it. Though of course, there's always the lingering spectre of slow acting compounds that pass all tests. That's why research papers are important.
Sounds like a great article on strategies for assessing unknown edibility. Look forward to reading it. A few case studies of slow acting toxins could be interesting. I know of the cycad seeds used as staples by some native populations that caused slow neurotoxicity due to unnatural amino acids.