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Thread: Universal Edibility Test for Plants

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    Tracker Beo's Avatar
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    Default Universal Edibility Test for Plants

    There are many plants throughout the world. Tasting or swallowing even a small portion of some can cause severe discomfort, extreme internal disorders, and even death. Therefore, if you have the slightest doubt about a plant's edibility, apply the Universal Edibility Test before eating any portion of it.

    1 Test only one part of a potential food plant at a time.
    2 Separate the plant into its basic components - leaves, stems, roots, buds, and flowers.
    3 Smell the food for strong or acid odors. Remember, smell alone does not indicate a plant is edible or inedible.
    4 Do not eat for 8 hours before starting the test.
    5 During the 8 hours you abstain from eating, test for contact poisoning by placing a piece of the plant part you are testing on the inside of your elbow or wrist. Usually 15 minutes is enough time to allow for a reaction.
    6 During the test period, take nothing by mouth except purified water and the plant part you are testing.
    7 Select a small portion of a single part and prepare it the way you plan to eat it.
    8 Before placing the prepared plant part in your mouth, touch a small portion (a pinch) to the outer surface of your lip to test for burning or itching.
    9 If after 3 minutes there is no reaction on your lip, place the plant part on your tongue, holding it there for 15 minutes.
    10 If there is no reaction, thoroughly chew a pinch and hold it in your mouth for 15 minutes. Do not swallow.
    11 If no burning, itching, numbing, stinging, or other irritation occurs during the 15 minutes, swallow the food.
    12 Wait 8 hours. If any ill effects occur during this period, induce vomiting and drink a lot of water.
    13 If no ill effects occur, eat 0.25 cup of the same plant part prepared the same way. Wait another 8 hours. If no ill effects occur, the plant part as prepared is safe for eating.

    CAUTION
    Test all parts of the plant for edibility, as some plants have both edible and inedible parts. Do not assume that a part that proved edible when cooked is also edible when raw. Test the part raw to ensure edibility before eating raw. The same part or plant may produce varying reactions in different individuals.
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    non-senior senior member Assassin Pilot's Avatar
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    They have this one the main site. But it is always a useful reminder. Knowing me, I would just lick it first and wait 5 minutes before eating the whole thing (assuming I am within reach of a hospital)
    "He who throws dirt is losing ground"

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    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    i don't agree with the test, i think research and seeking out competent teachers is the only way to go.

  4. #4
    whipper snapper hermitman's Avatar
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    I have to agree with WE something like that could kill you and if you know what your doing than you shouldn't need that test.
    The sweet serenity of the wilderness, the only place someone can know everything about everything

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    Senior Member Stealth's Avatar
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    or just tell your friend its edible and if they live its good to eat

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    reclinite automaton canid's Avatar
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    the idea of this test is not that it's safe, but that it's safer. it can still get you dead; particularly with hepatotoxins such as the pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which will cause progressive liver damage in quantities too small to cause acute poisoning but some of which accumulate as they are not rapidly eliminated by the kidneys.

    it is not valid for many plant toxins and is certainly not valid for the mushroom toxins such as amatoxins.
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    missing in action trax's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stealth View Post
    or just tell your friend its edible and if they live its good to eat
    I'm suspecting you don't have a whole lot of friends, do you Stealth? Just a guess....
    some fella confronted me the other day and asked "What's your problem?" So I told him, "I don't have a problem I am a problem"

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    Senior Member nell67's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trax View Post
    I'm suspecting you don't have a whole lot of friends, do you Stealth? Just a guess....
    He USED to have a truck load of friends,till he took them out walkin in the woods one day!

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    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    We should see if it works by trying it on Rick.
    A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

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    Senior Member nell67's Avatar
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    Tony,dont pick on Rick when he isn't here to defend himself!,that ain't right,LOL!

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    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nell67 View Post
    Tony,dont pick on Rick when he isn't here to defend himself!,that ain't right,LOL!
    Im not picking on him, i am suggesting a experiment LOL
    A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    I AM the Minister of Science. I WILL conduct ALL experiments. Now, hand me those plants. They look yummy!

    I think folks are missing the point on the edibility test. It is for military survival on foreign soil. Someplace you won't have the ability to receive training for from competent folks (usually). It COULD be eat or die so it's a way to avoid the latter.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Senior Member corndog-44's Avatar
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    Universal Edibility Test....Try it with poison ivy or poison oak, re-action does not always happen within 15 minutes, go ahead and taste it. So, that's wild carrot but you're not sure...try the test. If it's poison hemlock you don't have much time left. In other words...I don't trust the Universl Edibility Test.

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    Senior Member Stealth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trax View Post
    I'm suspecting you don't have a whole lot of friends, do you Stealth? Just a guess....
    its true
    will you be my friend?

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    missing in action trax's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stealth View Post
    its true
    will you be my friend?
    Sure, but I'll be declining any salad or vegetable offerings.....
    some fella confronted me the other day and asked "What's your problem?" So I told him, "I don't have a problem I am a problem"

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    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stealth View Post
    its true
    will you be my friend?
    I'll be your friend
    A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

  17. #17
    non-senior senior member Assassin Pilot's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    I AM the Minister of Science. I WILL conduct ALL experiments. Now, hand me those plants. They look yummy!

    I think folks are missing the point on the edibility test. It is for military survival on foreign soil. Someplace you won't have the ability to receive training for from competent folks (usually). It COULD be eat or die so it's a way to avoid the latter.
    alright. For the first experiment, here are a bunch of red mushrooms with white dots. They look pretty good. Just ignore the dead animal blood, some dog ate part of it and started throwing up his own blood after 7 minutes (he passed out immediately)
    "He who throws dirt is losing ground"

  18. #18

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    Give it to Mikey, He will eat anything!

    He eats that dang over-processed cereal doesn't he!

    Don
    No one knows more about a task then the person that does it, Practice makes perfect!

  19. #19
    Senior Member Tony uk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dilligaf2u2 View Post
    Give it to Mikey, He will eat anything!

    He eats that dang over-processed cereal doesn't he!

    Don
    NINE !

    I will be the one eatting the tastey prossesed foodstufs on here thankyou
    A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times.

  20. #20
    Scoutmaster Last Mohican's Avatar
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    If tofu won't kill you then nothing will.
    "There is a saving streak of the primitive in all of us" - Euell Gibbons

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