Edible Yew berries

[RAPPLEBY2000]

only kidding, I know they are very poisonous.

but I had a chat with a bloke the other day that said something to the effect of:

"I can't remember what it is, but if you take the seed out or visa-versa they are edible"

I've not heard this before can anyone confirm or dismiss this idea?

Cheers
Rich

 

[Toddy]

The flesh of the berry is edible but you must not chew/ break the stone.
Better to be safe and spit it out.
If you do decide to try them, may I advise only two or three to see how they agree with you, or not, to start with. Somefolks don't digest them well.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[slowworm]

Yes the yew berry flesh is meant to be edible, and the seed deadly so you can eat the flesh and spit the seed out. Not tried it myself and it's not something I'd suggest either. I gather the birds that eat the berries don't grind their food up in their crop so the hard berries pass through.

 

[Peter_t]

you eat the red flesh which is very sweet but NOT THE SEED which is apparently lethal

iv eaten them and you just have to be careful not to chew the seed and make sure you spit it out. i wouldn’t like to eat them if i was far away from help just in case i accidentally swallowed one


pete

 

[Toddy]

Swallowing a whole, unbroken seed won't kill you, it passes through the gut........supposedly it germinates a lot quicker afterwards too
The flesh is sweet but kind of gelatinous, I think it's an acquired texture tbh.

Much safer just not to eat the seed in the first place.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[dwardo]

Swallowing a whole, unbroken seed won't kill you, it passes through the gut........supposedly it germinates a lot quicker afterwards too
The flesh is sweet but kind of gelatinous, I think it's an acquired texture tbh.

Much safer just not to eat the seed in the first place.

cheers,
Toddy

Acquired taste to say the least, sweet buy very very slimey.

 

[troy ap De skog]

yew berrys are ok as wild foods go,
but do NOT try and make an alcoholic drink out the berries, as from my exspirence will cause kidney pains for about 24hrs aswell as vomiting and diahrea...
and as i honly had one glass, it was not the alcohol, not sure what toxin would have built up in the drink.... as these are not the useal symtons for taxane

 

[Tengu]

Sickly and sticky.

No, even if it was covered in chocolate...

(yes, I have tried them)

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

I guess I'm gonna have to try one! cheers all!

 

[ocean1975]

Check out this site www.wildmanwildfood.co.uk this is fergus the forager who is living on wild foods for a year.Follow his blog and he has made a yew berry pie.Hope this helps

 

[stevesteve]

This has been discussed before and I'm sure the general feeling was "Not worth the risk".

Cheers,
Steve

 

[rik_uk3]

Why bother, you now know there is a good element of risk involved, you have no need to try.

We ought to start a list of famous last words

"These mushrooms are fine, I've read the book"

"Nothing wrong with eating those seeds, I feel great"

 

[Toddy]

And the Japanese and thon fish that needs a bit of the gut removed undamaged
How the hang did they discover that one ???

cheers,
Toddy

 

[spamel]

Stop being a bunch of jessies and get them down yer neck! The flesh is perfectly edible and a bit snotty, I found rolling the fruit around against my teeth with my tongue got most of the fruit off. I have eaten loads this year and had no ill effects. Bear in mind that you will find differences between various trees; the one I go past with Addo and Scruff when they come round here are OK, sweet and very snotty. The ones at Wentworth Castle, on the other hand, are very sweet and taste like water melon, they aren't so snotty and are easily gathered.

I'm not too sure I agree with what you say Rik, by your advice we should all sack camping off because we have perfectly good homes to live in!

 

[Joe]

Russian Roulette but with a berry that doesn't taste great and has a snot like texture. Seems crazy to even try it. Why not snog an Adder and make a Hornet nest hat while you're at it?

I've heard of lots of people who have tried the flesh of a Yew berry and been fine, but then I've heard plenty of other accounts too (seeds getting caught in a cracked tooth etc) which didn't end quite so well.

My advice on a public forum would definitely be to just accept that it is an extremely poisonous tree and certainly not worth eating any part of.

 

[spamel]

It tastes fine, like watermelon. It really is the texture that can put you off, but even then it can be more pronounced on some trees than others. I rate them, they give you a sugar rush and a half if you haven't had much sugar and it is easy to get the flesh of the massive seed inside, which is a bit bigger than match-head.

 

[spamel]

Plus, a box of chocolate frogs in one go will do you more harm then a few yew berries!

 

[Joe]

You and your 'devil may care' attitude Spamel! I'm sure they're tasty and delicious, all I'm saying is that we're writing advice that will be seen by countless others who may only read the bit about the berries being edible and not worry too much about the rest of the important info.

It may only be a matter of time before some unlucky lifeless soul is found lying in a cemetery with dark pink dribble coming out of the corner of their drooping mouth clutching a screen print off starting with the words "Stop being a bunch of jessies..."

Anyway, I've given up the frogs. That's all in the past now but thanks for bringing it up...

 

[Dave Budd]

yew berrys are ok as wild foods go,
but do NOT try and make an alcoholic drink out the berries, as from my exspirence will cause kidney pains for about 24hrs aswell as vomiting and diahrea...
and as i honly had one glass, it was not the alcohol, not sure what toxin would have built up in the drink.... as these are not the useal symtons for taxane

the thought of Yew vodka went through my mind too did you put the berries in the alcohol with the seeds in them still? that might account for the toxicity?

 

[spamel]

You and your 'devil may care' attitude Spamel! I'm sure they're tasty and delicious, all I'm saying is that we're writing advice that will be seen by countless others who may only read the bit about the berries being edible and not worry too much about the rest of the important info.

It may only be a matter of time before some unlucky lifeless soul is found lying in a cemetery with dark pink dribble coming out of the corner of their drooping mouth clutching a screen print off starting with the words "You're all a bunch of jessies..."

Anyway, I've given up the frogs. That's all in the past now but thanks for bringing it up...

Fair enough, people do have to go into it with their eyes open and understand the potential hazards but if you're careful you can come away with a nice sweet treat! And i do not believe you about those chocolate frogs, they're too tasty to give up!