Eating Dragonfruit pollen???

[Rannman]

As a keen grower of Dragonfruit, I was wondering if anyone had given any thought to using the large amounts of pollen available for human consumption. I know there is a lot of talk about bee pollen and its associated health benefits and it would seem to me that fresh pollen should be just as beneficial as bee pollen, and for some months of the year, much easier to collect. Any thoughts?

[KarenRei]

As a keen grower of Dragonfruit, I was wondering if anyone had given any thought to using the large amounts of pollen available for human consumption. I know there is a lot of talk about bee pollen and its associated health benefits and it would seem to me that fresh pollen should be just as beneficial as bee pollen, and for some months of the year, much easier to collect. Any thoughts?

While bees do add some secretions to the pollen when transporting and packing it to help bundle it up and preserve it, it's primarily the same thing whether a bee harvests it or you do.. Pollen is a high protein food source. If you like the taste of dragonfruit pollen and don't mind collecting it, and you're not allergic to pollen, go for it.

[gunnar429]

please be our guinea pig.  Try it out, and if you are still around in a year or so, we will know it wasn't toxic 

[ricshaw]

Some people eat the flowers. Wouldn't that include some pollen?

[simon_grow]

I make a type of soup with the flowers and there is a bit of pollen in there. I never thought about just eating the pollen. Thanks for pointing it out!

Simon

[starling1]

I would have to be pretty hungry to eat pollen.

[KarenRei]

A staple food for native americans in certain areas at certain times of year was cattail pollen, it was used sort of like a high protein flour.  Cattails really are the ultimate temperate-climes survival plant... if you have cattails you have, depending on time of year, protein (pollen), carbs (roots), vitamins and mineral-rich greens (sprouts, core, developing flowers), water (they grow in freshwater), insulation (tufts), firestarter (tufts), fire holder (mature flowers), candle (mature flowers soaked in fat), thatch (leaves), fuel (dried stems / leaves)... usually even fish, too, they like to live among them. And one can commonly find grubs at the base of browned cattail leaves that one can use as bait.

The only other plant I can think of that could best it in terms of all around providing for one's survival is the coconut palm.

[stuartdaly88]

Pine is another multi use tree worshipped by ancients and makes so much pollen it's ridiculous! I collect like a dustbin bag full every year makes a nice piney tea or add it to my protein shake as it's supposedly high in vitamins. I'm not sure if it's as healthy as woo practitioners would have you believe but I do like taking it. Iv read some reports of a tincture increasing free testosterone levels if that was really true it would  be incredible!
Iv also bought and used tea pollen in a similar way. Tea pollen is slightly sweet and to my taste abit creamy:)
How is the taste of Dragonfruit pollen and is it significant nutritionally?
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00984102

Wish I could read more than just this abstract on digestibility of pollen in animals. Just the abstract sugests pollen grains nay have protein as high as 60% now that's incredible! Perhaps pollen could be a way of the future some plants like pine produce copious amounts of pollen and I'm sure no.plant yet has been bred for pollen production. Perhaps vegan products similar to mycelium protein/fake meat could be created
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16808932/
This seems to suggest that at least in some plants protein content is lowered after collection by bees.
This is a very interesting topic maybe next year I will collect Dragonfruit pollen:)

[ricshaw]

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00984102

Wish I could read more than just this abstract on digestibility of pollen in animals. Just the abstract sugests pollen grains nay have protein as high as 60% now that's incredible!

See:
http://www.inkcorrosion.org/reports/000592/front.pdf

[stuartdaly88]

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF00984102

Wish I could read more than just this abstract on digestibility of pollen in animals. Just the abstract sugests pollen grains nay have protein as high as 60% now that's incredible!

See:
http://www.inkcorrosion.org/reports/000592/front.pdf

Thank you!!