Mugwort sensitivity

[RandyRhoads]

I was really excited to have just found a bunch of wild mugwort by my house. While deep in it shirtless collecting I started to itch like mad. No redness, or rash, just insane intchyness. Is this some sort of allergic reaction that means I shouldn't eat any, or is this something somewhat common that happens from the hairs on it, and no relation to being able consume it?

EDIT: I took some mugwort and rubbed it good all over the inside of my forearmy to make sure it was in fact the mugwort and not the fig latex i had also come into contact with - I now have tiny bumps all over the area, but still no redness.

[Ted]

It's not even listed in my Petersons Edible book, but it is in me Petersons Medicinal with a "Warning my cause dermatitus."

[hunter63]

I don't fool with Harry Potter stuff.......Your lucky you didn't turn into something weird........LOL

Anyway:
Quote>
Food

The leaves and buds, best picked shortly before the plant flowers in July to September, were used as a bitter flavoring agent to season fat, meat and fish.

It has also been used to flavor beer before the introduction of or instead of hops.

<Quote

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_vulgaris

[RandyRhoads]

I just did some poking around and found out mugwort and ragweed are the two main culprits in seasonal allergies, and if you're sensitive to them you should avoid certain fruits like melons. I think I finally found out why i'm allergic to certain fruits, a shared protein between mugwort and the fruits. This sucks, does this mean I can't make beer out of it? Would inhaling the smoke cause a reactions as well?

[Ted]

Maybe,I know you don't want to breath in smoke from burning poison ivy ......bad, very bad.

[RandyRhoads]

Where's our doctor to answer this question??

[Rick]

Well, that ain't me, but one of my kids friends inhaled some poison ivy smoke from a fire his grandfather built. They were clearing some land. The kid broke out on the inside; in his mouth and throat. He was in the hospital for about a week over it. If you know you're allergic I sure wouldn't stick around a mugwort fire to find out.

[canid]

if the mugwort allergy is in fact to a protein then it will not be present in the smoke. if instead it is something else, such as the thujone, then that might be a different story. the irritant in poison ivy is a volatile oil, which vaporizes upon heating to a certain point and can be carried in the smoke.

I was once present when some neighbors in Michigan decided to have a bonfire and make s'mores for their children/grandchildren. I noticed that the wood they planned to burn was grown over with dried poison ivy. I warned them, and sure enough they decided not to listen. I imagine they wished they had, though they never said so to me.

by the way, the use of mugwort in beer is actually the origin of the name (just as wormwood may derive from its use in treating parasites). I imagine it lent some help in keeping beer from souring. It's preparation in those days was not exactly the picture of hygiene and sanitation.

[hunter63]

At least they had to boil the water for making beer.....

[Rick]

...with the same hands they used to....never mind.

[RandyRhoads]

if the mugwort allergy is in fact to a protein then it will not be present in the smoke. .

Ahh I didn't think of this. Protein breaks down from heat, the same reason you treat lionfish stings with scalding hot water right?


I did some poking around and i'm pretty sure I have "Oral Allergy Syndrome" It perfectly explains why certain melons make my mouth and throat itch, but don't go beyond that. Now i'm curious if mugwort tea/beer will leave me with that or not. Think i'll go to the fire house and touch a peice to my lip with epi and bendryl on hand, and progress from there.

[hunter63]

Actually that might not be a bad idea.....then you would know for sure.
DW always has me save a piece of whatever I "forage".....the show the EMT's what I got into "this time"

[RandyRhoads]

It wouldn't be the first dangerous thing i've gone there and had the medics stand by for I think they're used to my shenanigans ..Hahaha....

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[Pale E O]

Hey Randy,
If you don't keel over after your experiment... and with your fondness for flames... I would definitely burn the mugwort. When you've got your beer and want to settle in around a campfire, that stuff makes an awesome coal extender. Roll the dried leaves in your palms (yeah, for you with gloves I think) and it will turn into a gray cottony mass that expands any ember... in my opinion better than cattail or cottonwood fluff. Add a little powdered charcoal to it and it will catch a good spark. It is my favorite friction fire coal extender and I use it to catch sparks when I demonstrate marcasite and flint percussion fires.