Being safe while growing and eating rare fruits

[brad]

Curious if anyone has some advice for being safe growing and eating rare fruit, by safe I mean not eating anything poisonous or containing compounds that may lead to health complications if eaten in large quantities?

I often find myself buying rare seeds online and recently thought, this "musho" Jaltomata cajacayensis looks cool to grow, but with next to no information online I wonder if I could be risking my health if I ended up eating a bunch of them, so figured I'd ask some of the more experienced folks here for advice on this topic.  This is just a random fruit as an example, but curious in general how people approach this

[Epicatt2]

What I do when trying to decide on an new-to-me strange fruit is to research it online
using Google and by using the scientific name of the species. By doing that you should
be able to gather enough information about the new species you're wanting to try that
will give you what you need to know if there are any problems with that new fruit.

OK — HTH

Paul M.
==

[Finca La Isla]

It’s a good question. I have several fruits that there is very limited information online. I recently got seeds from Jim West who has an incredible collection of rare fruits. There’s stuff there that only has a botanical description.
I’m often warning people about the oxalic acid in sour carombola. Here in CR it’s common to make a juice drink with sour carombola that will inhibit your body’s ability to absorb calcium. That’s a well known thing that many are unaware of. 
Peter

[brian]

Annonacin was a surprise to me.  In soursop, sugar apples, etc.


And I am growing ackee, but at least that one is well known for being toxic

[Sir Graftalot]

Lychee contains methylene cyclopropyl-glycine, which can cause encephalitis-related deaths; lychee can inhibit the body's ability to produce glucose, which can cause hypoglycemia.

[Sir Graftalot]

...and everybody knows about the ackee.

[Daintree]

Yeah, anything can be toxic.
The entire Solanum genus is poisonous in one way or another.
Drink too much water and you dilute your blood and could have seizures or die.
Undercooked kidney beans can send you to the ER.
Don't let your asparagus bolt and fruit - kids can find the bright red, poisonous berries irresistible.
But then again, you gotta die of something...
Might as well be something tasty!

[drymifolia]

Yeah, anything can be toxic.
The entire Solanum genus is poisonous in one way or another.
Drink too much water and you dilute your blood and could have seizures or die.
Undercooked kidney beans can send you to the ER.
Don't let your asparagus bolt and fruit - kids can find the bright red, poisonous berries irresistible.
But then again, you gotta die of something...
Might as well be something tasty!

Well sure, you've gotta die of something, but I'd rather not have it be an entirely preventable neurodegenerative disease, for example, just because I wanted to eat my body weight in annonas every year.

My suggestion would be to search for the species name in quotes and "toxicity," if nothing comes up for that try the genus name without the species, and if you're still finding nothing then at least learn the scientific name of the family and see whether it's a plant family with widespread toxicity issues (like Solanaceae and Annonaceae, for example). While that won't be foolproof, it'll help you decide whether you really want to be one of the guinea pigs who discovers whether this newly discovered tasty member of an otherwise dangerous family is safe to eat. Everyone has a different risk tolerance!

[Sir Graftalot]

Someone brought cupcakes to the office a couple of years ago. No one knew it was contaminated with peanut somehow. It almost killed one of my colleagues.

[sc4001992]

I purchased this seedling malaforumis (not) from a reliable source here. It turned out to be a poisonous fruit instead.



It was lucky for me that I posted the photos of the vine and shape of the fruit here and asked what everyone thought it was. One forum member said it looked like the poisonous passion fruit. Boy was I lucky to find out before I opened it up, but it also had only seeds inside so I couldn't accidentally try the flesh not knowing it was a bad idea.

[elouicious]

I once asked a similar question of forum member Colombo403 who will sample wild fruits in French Guiana, often without being 100% positive of the species ID

He had a few rules
1. Eat a small amount of anything on the first try
2. Check if local monkeys are eating them
3. Check if local ants are eating them

#2 is probably not so feasible but 1 and 3 should get you a long way- maybe time to start an Ant farm!

[SplorKeLZ]

this is an interesting question because the term "poisonous" has such a broad definition, there are things like manchineel and then there is starfruit and annonas, both could be potentially unhealthy in large doses but not drop-dead toxic.

I once asked a similar question of forum member Colombo403 who will sample wild fruits in French Guiana, often without being 100% positive of the species ID

He had a few rules
1. Eat a small amount of anything on the first try
2. Check if local monkeys are eating them
3. Check if local ants are eating them

#2 is probably not so feasible but 1 and 3 should get you a long way- maybe time to start an Ant farm!

just don't get bit by a bullet ant XD

[Galatians522]

I purchased this seedling malaforumis (not) from a reliable source here. It turned out to be a poisonous fruit instead.



It was lucky for me that I posted the photos of the vine and shape of the fruit here and asked what everyone thought it was. One forum member said it looked like the poisonous passion fruit. Boy was I lucky to find out before I opened it up, but it also had only seeds inside so I couldn't accidentally try the flesh not knowing it was a bad idea.

That sure looks like a milkweed vine pod to me. Araujia odorata or a Cynanchum of some kind. One is reportedly edible and the other not. The flowers are the easiest way to tell them apart.

[gardenGnostic]

Annonacin is on another level, it's scary to imagine how many chemicals like that might be hiding in the edible parts of all these other less researched fruit. I'm definitely not sure what the answer is for the ones like that, aside from hoping you don't get burned by them in the end or like... funding a study on them?

[brad]

Thanks for the replies everyone!  So far every plant I am growing is well documented that it is edible, but it is tricky to find anything past "people do eat it where it natively grows".  The difficult part is figuring out if it is something to grow for novelty to let people try it or if it's safe to eat a harvest each season.  I think there probably isn't a great way to determine this, but I was thinking maybe there are sources where people have tested it to get a breakdown of all the compounds it contains.

[SHV]

I have asked the same question previously about fruit hunters that find new fruits in the wild and try them out.  Nah, I will leave that to the brave humans and monkeys.
As far as the toxic chemicals are concerned, I'm sure you do more damage eating a fast food hamburger than eating residual annonacin in a ripe cherimoya.  As Daintree mentioned, too much of anything can be bad for you. Even mangos   

[drymifolia]

As far as the toxic chemicals are concerned, I'm sure you do more damage eating a fast food hamburger than eating residual annonacin in a ripe cherimoya.

Studies on soursop and pawpaw have shown very wide ranges of annonacin and squamocin in different cultivars or selections, and it's a toxin that only has symptoms after a long period of exposure, so it's a hard one to pin down until more studies have been done. I still love to eat pawpaw or cherimoya from time to time, but it's absolutely possible you could have a serious neurodegenerative disease from eating too many fruit in that family, and I would not suggest that anyone get obsessed with that family and plant tons of them and eat as many as you want year after year, unless you're a risk taker and know that about yourself.

[Jordan321]

It's awesome that this places best answer to the question sounds like "Google it and hope."
What's that saying the mushroom hunters have? "There's old foragers and bold foragers, but there's no old bold foragers."

[SoCalGardenNut]

I only acquired 1 cherimoya for a reason. Mango gives me problem too. I stay away from Star fruit.
I google for information on WebMD, it tends to be more accurate.

[Nick C]

Everything is edible....atleast once lol

[countryboy1981]

It’s a good question. I have several fruits that there is very limited information online. I recently got seeds from Jim West who has an incredible collection of rare fruits. There’s stuff there that only has a botanical description.
I’m often warning people about the oxalic acid in sour carombola. Here in CR it’s common to make a juice drink with sour carombola that will inhibit your body’s ability to absorb calcium. That’s a well known thing that many are unaware of. 
Peter

Carambolas are one of the fruits that are exceedingly high in oxalates which not only inhibit calcium but other minerals as well such as magnesium.  Oxalates also cause kidney stones as well.  Most ripe fruits are low in oxalates--the ripe fruits are the only part of the plant that the plant wants you to eat. Other parts of plants have different defense chemicals to deter things from eating them.

[Rob From Sydney]

As far as the toxic chemicals are concerned, I'm sure you do more damage eating a fast food hamburger than eating residual annonacin in a ripe cherimoya.

Studies on soursop and pawpaw have shown very wide ranges of annonacin and squamocin in different cultivars or selections, and it's a toxin that only has symptoms after a long period of exposure, so it's a hard one to pin down until more studies have been done. I still love to eat pawpaw or cherimoya from time to time, but it's absolutely possible you could have a serious neurodegenerative disease from eating too many fruit in that family, and I would not suggest that anyone get obsessed with that family and plant tons of them and eat as many as you want year after year, unless you're a risk taker and know that about yourself.

Does anybody know how much annona fruits you can have before you consume too much annonacin? 1 fruit a week? 1 fruit a fortnight? No more than a few kilos a month?
I love annonas and I'm curious how much is safe. I want to plant a ton of annonas, thats all.

[Julie]

Galatians read the study and ill attach his post. Basically the amount of annonacin in atemoya is very low compared to paw paw. Custard apple i have not seen a measurement for but the amount is probably similar to atemoya.

Har also pointed out that the people in the study were also consuming the seeds by blending them into smoothies and were drinking the bark and leaves via teas. These parts of the fruit have much more annonacin than the flesh.

The island the people lived on was heavily sprayed with agri chemicals. The annona consumption might not have even been the factor

Finally, all plants have toxins to some extent. Oxalates, phytates, etc. yet plants are the healthiest foods on the planet. This is probably just another case of trying to demonize plants.

I have a san pablo red custard apple tree that currently doesnt set fruit. For a lot of these tropical fruit trees, 2 trees are needed for pollination. Based on what im saying above, i feel comfortable planting a second custard apple tree. I may or may not freeze the fruit, but i will probably eat plenty when its in season..sure, the annonacin is still in the back of my mind, but the hazards produced by humans are a lot more dangerous than what is found in nature, in my opinion

[SoCalGardenNut]

I can’t remember where I read this, but possibly from GF forum, research neurologist wouldn’t let their children eat cherimoyas but they let them eat paws paws.

I eat a few fruit per year.

[Rob From Sydney]

Galatians read the study and ill attach his post. Basically the amount of annonacin in atemoya is very low compared to paw paw. Custard apple i have not seen a measurement for but the amount is probably similar to atemoya.

Har also pointed out that the people in the study were also consuming the seeds by blending them into smoothies and were drinking the bark and leaves via teas. These parts of the fruit have much more annonacin than the flesh.

The island the people lived on was heavily sprayed with agri chemicals. The annona consumption might not have even been the factor

Finally, all plants have toxins to some extent. Oxalates, phytates, etc. yet plants are the healthiest foods on the planet. This is probably just another case of trying to demonize plants.

I have a san pablo red custard apple tree that currently doesnt set fruit. For a lot of these tropical fruit trees, 2 trees are needed for pollination. Based on what im saying above, i feel comfortable planting a second custard apple tree. I may or may not freeze the fruit, but i will probably eat plenty when its in season..sure, the annonacin is still in the back of my mind, but the hazards produced by humans are a lot more dangerous than what is found in nature, in my opinion

I've bookmarked the topic - It's interesting reading material.
I'd just like to add the table that Galatians is referring to in the image you attached: