Learning as much as possible about the parts of a plant; which parts are edible and which are poisonous; which have poisonous relatives that look similar to the edible plant, and knowing that many plants are only edible at certain times of the year, can give you an edge on survival in picking wild edible plants to eat.
Today I will cover the “Edibility Test.” It is the process in which you go through to determine a plant part’s edibility (safe for consumption).
Edibility Test
There are many plants that if you eat a small portion of can make you incredibly sick or even cause death. So it's important to have a “taste test” and a “24 hour test period” before determining if a plant is safe to eat. And if you have the slightest doubt that the plant you’re eating is no good, DO NOT EAT IT!
- Test only one part of a food plant and a time.
- Make sure the plant is plentiful where you're located, you don't need to be testing plants that aren't abundant.
- Abstain from eating 8 hours before testing.
- Separate each plant into its 5 basic parts: leaves, stems, roots, buds and flowers.
- During the test period only drink purified water and the plant part you are testing.
- Smell the plant for strong or acidic odors. If there is no strong or acidic odor…
- Take one plant part and place one on the inside of your elbow or wrist. Wait 15 minutes for a reaction. If there is no reaction…
- Prepare the plant part as you like…either baking, roasting, boiling, or drying it.
- Take a small portion (pinch) of the plant part, touch it to your lips, to see if it burns or itches. If it does not after 3 minutes…
- Place the plant part on your tongue for 15 minutes. If there is no negative reaction…
- Thoroughly chew the plant part and hold it in your mouth for 15 minutes. DO NOT SWALLOW YET!
- If there is no burning, itching, numbing, stinging, pain or any other irritation, swallow the plant part.
- At this point, you wait 8 hours. And if there's any ill effects, induce vomiting and drink a lot of water.
- If there are no ill effects, eat 1/4 of a cup or 60 milliliters of the same plant part, and wait another 8 hours.
- If there are no ill effects, then the plant part is probably safe to eat.
Warning
- Test all parts alone for edibility, even though some parts are edible, other parts of the same plant may not be.
- Just because it's edible when cooked, doesn’t mean it's edible when raw, so test raw parts as well before you eat a lot of it.
- And since people are built differently, each plant part may not affect one person but may affect the other, so be careful.
- In normal circumstances, when we eat new foods, sometimes we get gas, diarrhea or cramping, just because our body isn't used to the new food. With wild plants it could be the same thing, or even worse. So please eat in moderation.
In Conclusion.
The “Edibility Test” determines whether or not a plant part is safe for consumption. It is about a 24-hour process. It is good to keep a log of where you found the plant, what it looks like (draw a picture), and which parts are edible. The more detail you have about the plant, the better.
Sources: U.S. Department of Defense - Survival Handbook, Army Field Manuals, Soldiers Guides and Personal Experience.
Stay frosty people.