Yew for food??!!
- Thread starter Ralph
- Start date
It's one of those things that I'd advise you to just stay away from altogether. The flesh is edible, some people eat it, however, if you make a mistake it would be bad news for you, there's stories (I don't know how accurate) of people kicking the bucket because they crunched a seed and they had a cut in their mouth. There are loads of stories like that.
So, stay away from them would be the advice of most people
So, stay away from them would be the advice of most people
Extract from the plants for a future database:
Fruit - raw[105, 161, 257]. Very sweet and gelatinous, most people find it delicious though some find it sickly[K]. The fruit is a fleshy berry about 8mm in diameter and containing a single seed[200]. Trees usually produce good crops every year[229]. All other parts of this plant, including the seed, are highly poisonous. When eating the fruit you should spit out the large seed found in the fruit's centre. Should you swallow the whole seed it will just pass straight through you without harm, if the seed has been bitten into, however, it could cause some problems.
Cronos
Fruit - raw[105, 161, 257]. Very sweet and gelatinous, most people find it delicious though some find it sickly[K]. The fruit is a fleshy berry about 8mm in diameter and containing a single seed[200]. Trees usually produce good crops every year[229]. All other parts of this plant, including the seed, are highly poisonous. When eating the fruit you should spit out the large seed found in the fruit's centre. Should you swallow the whole seed it will just pass straight through you without harm, if the seed has been bitten into, however, it could cause some problems.
Cronos
What Tony said.
The flesh is edible but you really, really, dont want to make a mistake and crunch one of the seeds!
george
The flesh is edible but you really, really, dont want to make a mistake and crunch one of the seeds!
george
It was me that said you can eat Yew berries. I have eaten loads of them with no ill effects. They are very sweet. The juice is clear and looks just glycerine. They really are quite delicious. But as I already said the seeds are toxic, so if you do try them be very careful.
this might seem a bit obvious, i dont intend to try eating the things anytime soon anyway, but wouldnt removing the seeds before eating the flesh greatly reduce the chance of crunching on of them?
Someone needs to develop a de-seeder which will be a bit like a de-stoner you use for cherries etc
If you don't mind guys I think i'll give them a miss! - working on the theory of if in doubt leave it out seems a great plan to me!
Delicious nibble maybe, but is it really worth the risk.....
Call me a coward if you like but to answer the obvious next question....'pass the cheese'
Delicious nibble maybe, but is it really worth the risk.....
Call me a coward if you like but to answer the obvious next question....'pass the cheese'
Tut...tut ....Tony. As an "admin" to mention that people have eaten the berries is a bit naughty (even though it may be true)
I think its a lot wiser to just to advise people to keep away from yew altogether as it will kill. Not kill you like on the tv or films,,, but really switch your lights off forever
I remember a few years back , somewhere reading about some lad who ate 3 leaves from a yew tree just to see what would happen. Nothing happened but he was a bit daft.
Oops my lady friend has just read this and said I sound like I am a paranoid lunatic... She is probably right....maybe I am being a bit paranoid
John
(even though it may be true)I think its a lot wiser to just to advise people to keep away from yew altogether as it will kill. Not kill you like on the tv or films,,, but really switch your lights off forever
I remember a few years back , somewhere reading about some lad who ate 3 leaves from a yew tree just to see what would happen. Nothing happened but he was a bit daft.
Oops
my lady friend has just read this and said I sound like I am a paranoid lunatic... She is probably right....maybe I am being a bit paranoid John
It is very hard to get the flesh of the seeds with your hands because it so soft it just turns to jelly. You end up with messy fingers and no berry. The seeds are rock hard and you would have to crunch them with your teeth to break them. The flesh comes away very easily in your mouth then spit the seed out.
The seed is designed to pass straight through birds after they have eaten the berry, this is why it has a hard skin.
The seed is designed to pass straight through birds after they have eaten the berry, this is why it has a hard skin.
That is pointing out the obvious a bit. Anyway, I don't think I will be trying it any time soon, soon meaning in the next 100 years/ before I die. Why would I die differently on tv?shadow57 said:I think its a lot wiser to just to advise people to keep away from yew altogether as it will kill. Not kill you like on the tv or films,,, but really switch your lights off forever
John
I meant by death on the TV and films ...in that they are actors and they dont really die...pretend
At school where I work some kids think its cool watching violent tv or playing violent computer games. To them people being killed is fun...... its not real but possibly some of them become blaze' about what is real and what is not.
"Did you kill anyone when you were in the Falklands ...Sir" is a question I am usually asked by some lads....with smiles on their faces??????
Drugs is cool for some kids at school.....You should see the faces of 4 kids who left school and became involved in drugs and were caught as dealers at 18years old.
Thier first taste of reality was going to jail for their actions. but you could tell they were shocked...as if it wasnt their fault...
If I were to warn the lads at my school about eating yew berries...sure as pooh one of them would have a go.
Reports on OPERATION BARRAS said that the kidnappers seem to be blaze' to the explosions around them as the SAS picked them off. As if they felt they were invunerable and had been watching to much TV
Oops....gone on a bit there....
Maybe I am being paranoid.....but I ain't eating any yew berries
right wheres that bit of bronze for my next bronze age knife
At school where I work some kids think its cool watching violent tv or playing violent computer games. To them people being killed is fun...... its not real but possibly some of them become blaze' about what is real and what is not.
"Did you kill anyone when you were in the Falklands ...Sir" is a question I am usually asked by some lads....with smiles on their faces??????
Drugs is cool for some kids at school.....You should see the faces of 4 kids who left school and became involved in drugs and were caught as dealers at 18years old.
Thier first taste of reality was going to jail for their actions. but you could tell they were shocked...as if it wasnt their fault...
If I were to warn the lads at my school about eating yew berries...sure as pooh one of them would have a go.
Reports on OPERATION BARRAS said that the kidnappers seem to be blaze' to the explosions around them as the SAS picked them off. As if they felt they were invunerable and had been watching to much TV
Oops....gone on a bit there....
Maybe I am being paranoid.....but I ain't eating any yew berries
right wheres that bit of bronze
for my next bronze age knife
Yep ....got carried away with that one
I just thought it was a daft idea to talk about eating yew berries and spitting out the seeds.
Someone on this site will probably have a go at doing it .....or even a guest viewing the site will have a go..
I was brought up with the idea of avoiding yew trees all together
Just seems like a daft thing to do ...to eat a berry that has an extremely powerful poison in the seed.
Anyway...back to engraving knife blade with salt water, 9volt battery and some copper wire John
I just thought it was a daft idea to talk about eating yew berries and spitting out the seeds.
Someone on this site will probably have a go at doing it .....or even a guest viewing the site will have a go..
I was brought up with the idea of avoiding yew trees all together
Just seems like a daft thing to do ...to eat a berry that has an extremely powerful poison in the seed.
Anyway...back to engraving knife blade with salt water, 9volt battery and some copper wire
JohnI find that there's something quite sobering (not that I drink while eating them) about being half-way through a tasty mouthful and then realising you're holding your death in your mouth.
There was an article in the newspaper recently about a young man, who commited suicide by eating (and presumably chewing), a large number of Yew berries, and leaves.
I imagine it would have been a painful death.
As for me, I'll reduce the risk, by avoiding all together. Bit like the Japanese with blow fish (Fugu), one wrong cut of the fish by the chef, and your a gonner.
TC
I imagine it would have been a painful death.
As for me, I'll reduce the risk, by avoiding all together. Bit like the Japanese with blow fish (Fugu), one wrong cut of the fish by the chef, and your a gonner.
TC
I have even heard of a case where a couple ate some fungus/mushroom growing on th side of yew and fell into a coma fora number of days..they survived but it goes to show quite how poisonous yew is.
Boooshpig
Boooshpig
Bushpig said:
Yes, it makes it all the amazing that the flesh of the fruit is edible and only this...........Jon
Just a mile or so from my back door, is Kingley Vale, a largish nature reserve with an ancient Yew forrest. Each year I notice the seeds from these trees on the floor and wonderedhow they got there. I waited and watched and saw birds feed on the red fleshed berry and expertly spitting out the seed.
I to have read that the berry is ok for humans to eat, but too much of a coward to try them!
I to have read that the berry is ok for humans to eat, but too much of a coward to try them!
