Cassabanana (sicana odorifera) safety and prospect as a long season annual

[Giannhs]

Hi! i saw somebody on youtube who tried a cassabanana for the first time and said that the leaves and seeds are poisonous. Is there any truth in it? So, if i put whole pieces of a cassabanana in a juicer, will it yield some poison from crushed seeds or maybe from the fruit skin? And then, if you eat it still unripe as a vegetable, would you remove the seeds?
They say it can be grown in temperate areas as a long season annual, but let us suppose i sprout it indoors during April (north hemisphere) in 9b zone and after it sprouts i take it outside, will it grow to bear ripe fruit before winter?
And what will happen if i sow the seeds in June, will it have time to bear fruit?
Thank you for your experience!

[Giannhs]

since nobody has replied and still this vine must be familiar to many people, i bring the questions again, so i do not have to experiment with myself to find how safe the plant is

[canito 17]

I had never try Pepino Angolo, but it is very common in farmers market . Apple seeds are toxic but you don't eat them .

[Forester]

Hi Giannhs. In Russia, many gardeners grew Cassabanana, everyone believed the descriptions from the Internet that it was delicious, but in fact it turned out to be mediocre. I think everything will work out in your climate. We do this in greenhouses in USDA zone 4-5 and get the fruits. But it's really not worth the effort, it's my opinion,I wasted my time growing Cassabanana.

[Satya]

We ate Cassabanana as a vegetable when it was unripe and then after it ripened. For us it was delicious, extremely juicy to a degree of juice trickling down your elbows, with hints of honeydew, banana and pineapple, but it could be the way we were growing, our climate, heat, our soil health and soil condition. I am not sure all the conditions are met in a green house, same way i can not eat the raspberries and strawberries here but in California or Russia they are the best.... compare a field grown watermelon with a greenhouse grown watermelon - completely different tastes.


When unripe we ate as vegetable and cooked it together with seeds, seeds were not hardened and easily cooked like in an unripe bottle- gourd. Once ripened seeds are hard so we separated them while eating. Also the ripe fruit makes an excellent fermented drink because of high sugar content.
We forgot to make a tasting video but this is a short clip we made on it while it was still hanging on our Oak tree.
https://youtu.be/GmeBUGxXoi8

[Forester]

compare a field grown watermelon with a greenhouse grown watermelon - completely different tastes.

I agree with you, it will be completely different tastes. But I also talked to a gardener from Sochi, and this is already subtropical, he grew cassabanan in the open ground,his opinion coincides with mine,it is not delicious and wasted time. Maybe the Russians have some idea of their own tastes, I know a lot of people who will never eat mango,because they think it is disgusting.

[Giannhs]

thank you Forester and Satya, i don't worry about the taste, there is no food that i cannot like except if unripe, but cassabanana is eaten unripe too. My only worry is about toxicity, are the leaves or seeds toxic? From what you have said, i understand it is not toxic. It must be like an ordinary melon which has bitter seeds and bitter sprouts, but still not toxic, and i do juice melon together with skin and seeds, it gets a touch of bitterness but no problem for me. So i believe i can juice cassabanana together with skin and seeds, without any problem of toxicity, and even eat the seeds from the unripe fruit. Correct me if i mistake it.

[Mike T]

Seeds are not toxic and hard to avoid when youre sampling them. While the aroma is alluring the taste wont set the world on fire. Mediocre is a very generous description and the promise its bouquet males is never delivered on.