Rick
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sandhillcowboy1 |
Unripe elderberries edible? |
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Anyone ever heard of eating unripe elderberries? The blue-purple berries not the red ones. I will get the latin name tomorrow.
Rick |
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outdoors girl89 |
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I have never tried it before, but I do know that unripe mullberries cause hallucination...dont know how much help that is but hopefully you will get some more
useful responses.
Meg
"When I found the skull in the woods, the first thing I did was call the police. But then I got curious about it. I picked it up, and started wondering
who this person was, and why he had deer horns."
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Haines |
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The unripe fruits of Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis (black elderberry) should not be eaten. They contain higher concentrations of phytochemicals that can cause
one to become sick. Even ripe fruits can be irritating to some (I have not had any troubles though). Cooked and dried are the safest ways to consume them. They
are good as dried fruit/fruit leather and have therapeutic value.
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sandhillcowboy1 |
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Thanks for the info, I had heard that about mulberries also.
Haines, all the info you posted is what I have always adhered to also. I recently came across some info that indicates otherwise, but they do have to be processed. I haven't had time to read the whole thing yet, but sounds interesting. Rick |
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alberto hernandez |
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I have eating the ripe fruits and the white flowers fresh of the plant Sambucus canadensis for years without any problems!
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sandhillcowboy1 |
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Alberto,
Kay Young author of "Wild Seasons - gathering and cooking wild plants of the great plains" is an ethnobotanist and a friend of mine. In her book she relates how most people have no problem eating the cooked ripe fruits, except her:) She finally figured out that if she removed the seeds prior to cooking it did not affect her in a negative manner. She said she also knows of other people who cannot eat even the cooked ones. Many wild edibles are actually like that, individual tolerances to certain plants can vary. This is also true with edible mushrooms. In my previous post I meant that it was necessary to process the "unripe" elderberries to make them edible, that is what I meant but didn't clarify. Rick
Last Edited By: sandhillcowboy1
12/30/07 7:47 AM.
Edited 1 times.
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alberto hernandez |
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Greetings Rick
I am a gardener and some of the places where I work have elderberries growing wild and I snack on the raw ripe fruits and white flowers for years with out any problems and I also use the dead wood of the plant for both bow drill and hand drills and fires boards. I also like the taste of the raw fruit and the white flowers and since I am working when I take the time to snack on them I have never cooked them. But I do know of people that do cook them but I never have. I also enjoy snaking on wild grapes and their young leaves raw with out any problems. Best wishes to you! Alberto |
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sandhillcowboy1 |
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Alberto,
Yes, I have eaten the raw ones also with no ill effects. I haven't eaten the grape leaves yet, although I knew they were OK to use for wrapping food in pit bakes. Kay Young makes a type of fritter from the blossoms, I have never tried that. Never tried the friction fires from the elderberry, am going to now though. Thanks for all your input, I really appreciate it. Rick |
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Francis Eric |
separting the berries, and romiving from stems | ||
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The stems can be posinious also
I know that separating the berries from the unripe ones can be done by putting them in water The ones with higher sugar content should sink, and the unripe ones will float. A WAY to get them off the stems is to put them in the fezzer In a grocery bag, (maybe a few or thicker to prevent frezzer burn --- depending on how long it's froze for and pound the bag against the ground or somthing , and most the berries will fall off. cutting a hole in the corner of the bag to get them out. It's been some time since I read about them, but I've heard of somebody using the flowers for syrup. Some people also use combs to destem them |
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Haines |
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It is important to remember that there is a HUGE difference between snacking on something and eating in quantity. All plant foods go through a progression of
food to medicine to poison with increasing amounts of consumed material. Absolutely all of them. Some plants exist in the food portion until a great deal of
material is eaten, then they become medicine. Keep eating though, and almost anything will begin to affect your body in a negative manner. Even highly toxic
plants can be used as medicinals in closely controlled amounts (and they pass through the "food" phase after a few grams of material as they quickly
begin to affect the physiology of your body). Sambucus nigra (black elderberry) is a good example of this progression and each person has their own scale of
food > medicine > poison progression (depending on their sensitivity to the terpenes and polyphenols contained in the fruits). I have eaten a fair amount
of the berries of this plant (and flowers), but I have never needed to consume them alone and in quantity (i.e., having the fruits as a significant portion of
my diet over periods of days or weeks). I, like Alberto Hernandez, eat them raw off the plant all the time (but not in what I would consider
"quantity"). However, I would still recommend that persons new to this wild food begin with small quanities of fresh fruits or either dry or cook the
fruits (into a thick syrup-like food) before consuming them.
For people interested in the medicinal uses of Sambucus nigra, here is an excerpt from Ancestral Plants (in preparation): "Various parts of Sambucus nigra have been used as folk remedies for many types of ailments and some of the uses due appear to have verified merit. The flowers and leaves contain several terpenes (e.g., ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, α-amyrin, β-amyrin, sterols). The flowers also contain chlorogenic acid (a polyphenol), while the leaves also contain sambunigrin (a carbohydrate that belongs to a group of phytochemicals called cyanogenic glycosides) and various polyphenals (e.g., kaempferol, quercetin). An infusion of the flowers has been shown to be effective for some types of colds and can reduce fever (i.e., it is a febrifuge). Further, it is an anticatarrhal (i.e., helping rid the body of excess mucus, especially in the sinus area). The leaves can be infused and used as a wash or poulticed and used as a vulnerary for minor skin problems (e.g., eczema, cuts, bruises). The inner bark can be used for the same purpose, but it would be decocted when used as a wash. The Cherokee, Oklamhoma Delaware, Houma, and Iroquois all used the bark for this purpose (and other ailments). Syrup made by boiling down the juice from the berries has also been used as a cold remedy with research that supports its efficacy. In addition to diuretic and diaphoretic properties, Sambucus medicine also appears to strengthen cell membranes, which prevents penetration of the cell by viruses." Haines |
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alberto hernandez |
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I am in total agreement with Haines! There is a great differences between snacking on some thing and eating large quantities of it, or over a extended period
of times. Here is another example, wood sorrels Oxalis spp. if eating excessively for a long period of time may prevent the absorption of calcium!
Best wishes to all! Alberto |
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japephillips |
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I've eaten many, ripe is sweeter of course and as a child in the fruit and hop fields I ate them by handfuls. Swallowed a good few unripe ones to no ill
effect. The very easily removed pith of the long straight twigs made for good blowguns and a mouthful of unripe berries was ammunition if you wanted to
'sting' your buddies, ripe ones if you wanted to 'stain' them (and get them into trouble with ma!). Makes an excellent jam/pie-filler/syrup.
Should be in every backyard as it is a good herbal source as well. But best of all, makes the finest of red country wines that cellars well and an incredible bubbly white wine with the flowers or with the addition of tea, a nicely balanced dry white. It is a truly bountiful plant. |
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Quillsnkiko |
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Elderberry Flower Fritters...elderberry blossems ..dipped in a pancake like batter ..deep fried , drained and dusted with powdered sugar.... are delicious.
" You can't stop the waves .... but, you can learn to surf."
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baza |
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I make salty sterilized elderberries with black pepper, hot chilli, clove and bay leaves. With cheese, meat or mushrooms...excellent!
short bow, Shorter Bow, SHORTEST BOW
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