Best 10 Poisonous Foods We Love To Eat

Everyday we chow down on food produced from plants that carry deadly poisons. Most of the time we don’t need to be concerned with this as the mass production of fruit and vegetables ensures that we are usually safe, but from time to time people accidentally kill themselves by unwittingly eating the wrong part of a plant. In order to ensure that this never happens to you, I have put together a list of the most commonly seen poisons that we come in to contact with in our kitchens.

10. Cassava (Yuca)

Though not too widely used in the United States, cassava is a woody shrub that is generally found in the Caribbean and South America. When using cassava, it can either be made to be sweet or bitter. The taste, as well as the smell, all depends on the amount of cyanogenic glucosides, which are in fact, extremely poisonous. Most who prepare it like it to be bitter, as it keeps away insects and even animals. If cassava is prepared incorrectly, it can be deadly. Cassava poisoning, due to high levels of cyanide, is known as Konzo. Cassava poisoning leads to irreversible paralysis.

Interesting fact: Cassava roots are ground into a flour-like substance which is then used to make tapioca. Cassava leaves contain cyanide but if pounded into a paste with flour and left in the shade for 5 hours, the cyanide is broken down.

9. Pufferfish

Pufferfish stand to be the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world. Though you won’t find pufferfish in the U.S., many in Korea as well as Japan find some parts of the fish to be delicacies. However, certain organs of the fish, such as the liver, as extremely toxic, and can be deadly. The poison in the fish, known as tetrodotoxin, can cause numbness, high blood pressure, and muscle paralysis, which is what leads to death as the diaphragm muscles become paralyzed, disabling breathing. Known as fugu when eaten as a meal, many in Asian countries refuse to not eat the fish.

Interesting fact: Pufferfish has been made illegal to be eaten by the Emperor of Japan.

8. Mushrooms

There are about 5000 types of mushrooms known in the U.S. and about 100 of them are said to be toxic, while less than a dozen are deadly. In any case, mushrooms can cause gastrointestinal discomfort. Since mushrooms are fungi and the fact that there are so many species, it can be hard to know which are poisonous. As rule of thumb, it is usually said that any mushroom found in the wild are more than likely poisonous. One of the deadliest types of mushroom toxins is Alpha-amanitin, which causes extreme liver damage. Toadstools, as they are called, are the poisonous mushrooms.

Interesting fact: There are 38,000 known kinds of mushrooms; about 5% of these are toxic.

7. Cashews

Though really seeds and not nuts, cashews grow inside of a shell-like structure that grows on a fruit. When buying “raw cashews” in the store, take note that these nuts have actually been steamed and are not entirely raw. This is because raw cashews contain urushiol, which is the same chemical that you’d find in poison ivy. It can cause the body to have a very similar reaction to one experienced from poison oak or ivy. If a high level of urushiol is ingested, it can be deadly. Cashew poisoning is rare, but those who handle them in order to manufacture them to get the shell off sometimes experience the side-effects.

Interesting fact: Cashews come from a fruit, which in South American countries, is eaten, and the seeds (cashews) are then thrown away.

6. Chilies

You’ve probably eaten a chili or two in your life. No matter if it was an extremely hot one, or one that was pretty mild, every chili you have ever consumed has contained a chemical called capsaicin. In chilies, capsaicin is what makes them spicy and “hot.” Of course one chili won’t hurt, but if you eat enough of them, capsaicin can kill you. The chemical is so strong that it is used as a paint stripper, and it is even used in pepper spray used by police forces. In hotter chilies, such as habaneros, capsaicin can be felt on the skin if you cut the chili, as it will produce a burning sensation.

Interesting fact: Chilies are extremely high in Vitamin C. One green chili pod is said to contain about 6 times as much Vitamin C.

5. Potatoes

We’ve all heard something or another about potatoes. Whether it is the potato famine, some Irish story, or some other historical event centered on potatoes, one thing you may not have heard of is that potatoes are toxic. The stem and leaves of the plant are toxic, and even the potato itself is toxic. If you’ve ever looked at a potato, you may have realized that some turn a greenish color. This is due to levels of glycoalkaloid poison. In the past, there have been deaths due to potato poisoning. It is rare, but most happen due to someone drinking potato leaf tea, or eating green potatoes. Death doesn’t come suddenly. It usually results in weakness and then a coma. Don’t worry about having the occasional green potato chip, but do discard any potatoes that have green eyes, sprouts, or greenish skins, rather than prepare and serve them, especially to children.

Interesting fact: Potatoes make great food for astronaut! In fact in 1995 potato plants were taken into orbit on the Columbia and actually grown.

4. Almonds

Almonds, most always said to be nuts, are actually seeds and are extremely popular in kitchens around the world. Much like cashews, almonds are extremely poisonous if not introduced to some sort of heat source. It is generally the bitter almonds that need to be treated to get rid of the poison. The seeds are full of cyanide, and in many countries are illegal to sell without having been processed in order to get rid of the poison within the seed.

Interesting fact: Almonds are said to be one of the earliest cultivated foods, being mentioned in the Bible’s Old Testament.

3. Cherries

Cherries are definitely one of the most versatile fruits. You can eat them raw, cook them, bake them, and get them tart or sweet. Cherries can even be used in certain types of liquor. Despite their overall red goodness, cherries are toxic. If you’ve ever eaten a cherry and without thought chewed on the pip or left it in your mouth, you more than likely introduced hydrogen cyanide into your body. If a cherry pip is chewed, crushed, or somehow damaged, it automatically produces hydrogen cyanide. Symptoms of mild poisoning include headache, dizziness, confusion, anxiety, and vomiting. Larger doses can lead to difficulty breathing, increased blood pressure and heart rate, and kidney failure. Reactions can include coma, convulsions, and death from respiratory arrest.

Interesting fact: Cherries contain extremely high amounts of Melatonin which is good for helping and keeping the body regulated.

2. Apples

Apples are definitely a popular fruit no matter where you go. Like others on the list, and many other types of fruits, apples contain cyanide, but not in high levels. The fruit itself does not contain the chemical, but you will find cyanide in the apple’s seeds. Eating all of the seeds in one apple won’t kill you, but it’s definitely not recommended. Of course, if enough apple seeds are eaten, this means chewed and swallowed, it can result in complications.

Interesting fact: Apples float because at least 25% of their mass is nothing but air.

1. Tomato

Despite the extreme popularity of tomatoes and many countries, it is true that they are poisonous. Though the fruit itself doesn’t contain poison, the stem as well as the leaves contain a chemical known as glycoalkaloid. Higher levels are said to be found in wild tomatoes, but those grown domestically still contain glycoalkaloid. This chemical is known to cause upset stomachs and nervousness. The leaves and stem can be used in cooking for flavor, but must be removed before eating. This chemical is so powerful that it is actually used as a way to control pests.

Interesting fact: In 1893, in the U.S. Supreme Court case Nix v. Hedden, it was argued whether or not a tomato was a vegetable or a fruit, which dealt with taxes being paid on vegetbles and not fruits. In the end, the court ruled that a tomato is a vegetable when referring to the Tariff Act, but is botanically a fruit.

Fruits & Vegetables High in Vitamin C

Getting enough vitamin C is important to prevent a serious disease like scurvy or simply to help ward off the common cold. According to the Produce for Better Health Foundation, any fruit or vegetable that contains 12 milligrams of vitamin C meets the nutritional requirements to be called "high in vitamin C." Adult females who do not smoke should take in 75 milligrams of vitamin C each day; adult males who do not smoke should take in 90 milligrams of vitamin C each day.

Fresh Orange

One medium fresh orange provides 130 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Grapefruit

One half of a medium grapefruit provides 100 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Strawberries

One half cup of fresh strawberries provides 160 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Potato

One medium potato that has been baked with the skin on will provide 45 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Broccoli

One serving of broccoli, which is one medium stalk, provides 220 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Spinach

One and one-half cups of shredded spinach provides 25 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Summer Squash

Half of a medium squash provides 30 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Tangerine

One medium tangerine provides 45 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.

Pepper, The World's Most Important Spice

Pepper, common name for a family comprising a medium-size group of shrubby or herbaceous flowering plants, and for its representative genus. The family contains between 5 and 10 genera and about 2000 species. Pantropical in distribution, it is particularly abundant in moist areas. Other than the representative genus, the only economically important member of the family is a genus sometimes called pepper elder. An ornamental plant, it is grown in greenhouses.

Pepper, the world's most important spice , is prepared from the peppercorn, the fruit of the pepper plant, a climbing vine native to India and widely cultivated in hot, moist areas of tropical Asia. Peppercorns that are harvested while green and immature and then allowed to dry yield black pepper. To produce white pepper, red and ripe peppercorns are soaked in water and their outer covering is rubbed off. Pepper is one of the oldest known spices, in use for at least 3000 years. Although pepper contains several alkaloids, its pungency is caused by a resin, chavicine. Chili and sweet peppers are derived from plants of the nightshade family.

The popular Polynesian beverage kava is produced from the roots of a shrub, which are mashed and fermented in water. The active ingredient is not alcohol, but an alkaloid.

The pepper family is the largest of three in its order. The flowers of the order are small and borne in spikes that are subtended by bracts. Neither sepals nor petals are present; a single superior ovary is borne free from other flower parts. Stamens (male floral structures) vary in number from one to ten. The fruits are often single-seeded, such as the familiar peppercorn.

The lizard's-tail family, in the same order as the pepper family, occurs in eastern Asia and North America and consists of fewer than ten species in five genera, most of which are found in moist habitats. Unlike the peppers, the bracts below the flower spike are colored and showy. A few species are cultivated as ground cover or in bog gardens, and the western North American yerba mansa has been used medicinally. The other family in the order, the chloranthus family, with about 5 genera and 75 species of tropical trees, shrubs, and herbs, is a taxonomically isolated group sometimes placed in its own order. Although disparate in the order in terms of anatomical features, the family shares the reduced floral characters and presence of oil cells with the other two families. Some recent classification systems place the pepper elders in a separate family of the order.

Scientific classification: Peppers make up the family Piperaceae of the order Piperales. Its representative genus is Piper. Pepper elders constitute the genus Peperomia. The pepper plant is classified as Piper nigrum. Chili and sweet peppers are derived from plants of the genus Capsicum, of the family Solanaceae. The Polynesian beverage kava is produced from the plant classified as Piper methysticum. The lizard's-tail family is Saururaceae. The yerba mansa is classified as Anemopsis californica. The other family in the order Piperales is Chloranthaceae.

Prometheus Young Man Of 5000 Years

Prometheus was a member of a population of bristlecone pine trees growing near tree line on the lateral moraine of a former glacier on Wheeler Peak, in what, since 1986, has been Great Basin National Park, in eastern Nevada. Wheeler Peak is the highest mountain in the Snake Range, and the highest mountain entirely within the state of Nevada. The bristlecone pine population on it is divided into (at least) two distinct sub-populations, one of which is accessible by a popular interpretive trail. Prometheus however, grew in an area reachable only by off-trail hiking. In either 1958 or 1961, a group of naturalists who admired the grove in which the tree grew gave names to a number of the largest or most distinctive trees, including Prometheus.



Currey originally aged the tree at, minimally, 4844 years. A few years later, this was increased to 4862 by Donald Graybill of the University of Arizona's Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. However, these ring counts were done on a trunk cross section taken about 2.5 m (8 feet) above the original germination point of the tree, because the innermost rings were missing below that point. Adjusting Graybill's figure of 4862 by adding in the estimated number of years required to reach this height, plus a correction for the estimated number of missing rings (which are not uncommon in trees growing at tree line), it is probable that the tree was at least 5000 years old when felled. This makes it the oldest unitary (i.e non-clonal) organism ever discovered, exceeding the Methuselah tree of the White Mountains' Schulman Grove, in California by two to three hundred years.

Whether Prometheus should be considered the oldest organism ever known depends on the definition of "oldest" and "organism". Certain sprouting (clonal) organisms, such as creosote bush or aspen, may have older individuals if the entire clonal organism is considered. Under this standard, the oldest living organism is a quaking aspen grove in Utah known as Pando, at perhaps as much as 80,000 years old. However, in a clonal organism the individual clonal stems are nowhere near as old, and no part of the organism at any given point in time is particularly old. Prometheus was thus the oldest non-clonal organism yet discovered, with its innermost, extant rings exceeding 4862 years of age.

Olive Fruit Facts

Olive, common name for a plant family , and for its representative genus, and for the fruit of the olive tree. The family contains about 900 species, placed in 24 genera. It comprises a small group of woody flowering plants, of almost cosmopolitan distribution, that contains several plants of horticultural and economic importance. In addition to the olive, familiar members of the family include ash, lilac, privet, jasmine, forsythia, and the fringe tree.



Most members of this family of dicots are shrubs or small trees, although a few are climbers. Nearly all have opposite leaves, which may be simple, as in lilacs and forsythias, or compound (composed of several separate leaflets), as in ashes. Flower structure is rather uniform in the family, but some variation occurs. Typically, flowers have four sepals (outer floral whorls) and four petals (inner floral whorls), two stamens (male flower parts) attached to the inner surface of the petals, and a single ovary (female flower part), which is superior (borne above and free from other flower parts). The fruits, which develop from the ovary after fertilization, vary considerably but usually contain a single seed. Examples of distinctive fruits include those of the olive, which are technically drupes (hard seeds surrounded by fleshy material); those of the ashes, which are indehiscent (remain closed at maturity) and winged and are technically known as samaras; and those of the lilacs, which are dry and dehiscent (splitting at maturity).

The olive genus contains about 20 species and is widespread in Eurasia. A few species produce good timber—for example, the black ironwood, of southern Africa. The cultivated olive is originally native to the eastern Mediterranean region but now widely cultivated throughout that area and in other parts of the world that have Mediterranean-type climates. The olive is cultivated for its fruits, which yield an edible oil and are also pickled for eating. Olive oil, which is derived from fresh, ripe fruits that contain about 20 percent oil, is used in cooking, in canning, and as a table oil. Olives for eating are picked either when unripe or when ripe. Unripe olives are green and remain so during pickling. Ripe olives are dark bluish when fresh and turn blackish during pickling. The seed, or stone, of the olive is often removed and the cavity stuffed with spicy materials such as sweet red pepper. The wood of the cultivated olive, being hard and variegated, is valued in cabinetry.

Scientific classification: Olives make up the family Oleaceae. The representative genus is Olea. The black ironwood is classified as Olea laurifolia and the cultivated olive as Olea europaea.

History Of Peanuts

Peanuts originated in South America, probably in Brazil and Peru. They were grown as far north as Mexico by the time the Spanish began their exploration of the New World. When the explorers returned to Spain, they brought peanuts with them. Later, traders were responsible for spreading peanuts to Africa and Asia.

Records show that in the 1800's peanuts were grown commercially in South Carolina and used for oil, food and a cocoa substitute. However, peanuts were regarded as food for livestock and the poor. They also were difficult to grow and harvest, so they were not widely grown in the United States.

The first notable increase in USA peanut consumption came in 1860 with the outbreak of the Civil War. Soldiers on both sides turned to peanuts for food. They took their taste for peanuts home with them and peanuts were sold freshly roasted by street vendors and at baseball games and circuses. While peanut production rose during this time, peanuts were still harvested by hand, leaving stems and trash in the peanuts. Thus, poor quality and lack of uniformity kept down the demand for peanuts.

Around 1900, labor-saving equipment was invented for planting, cultivating, harvesting and picking peanuts from the plants, as well as for shelling and cleaning the kernels. With these mechanical aids, peanuts rapidly came into demand for oil, roasted and salted nuts, peanut butter and candy.

In 1903, George Washington Carver began his research at Tuskegee Institute. While peanut butter had been developed by then, Carver developed more than 300 other uses for peanuts and improved peanut horticulture so much that he is considered by many to be the "father of the peanut industry." The botanist recognized the value of peanuts as a cash crop and proposed that peanuts be planted as a rotation crop in the Southeast cotton-growing areas where the boll weevil insect threatened the region's agricultural base.

Today, peanuts contribute more than four billion dollars to the U.S. economy each year. Americans eat more than 600 million pounds of peanuts and about 700 million pounds of peanut butter each year.

Cacti Guide

Cactus, common name for the family comprising a peculiar group of spiny, fleshy plants native to America. The family contains about 1650 species, most of which are adapted to arid climates. The fruits of cacti are important sources of food and drink in many areas to which they are native. Because cacti require little care and exhibit bizarre forms, they are popular for home cultivation and are coming under increasing pressure as a result. More than 17 kinds of cacti now face extinction because of plundering by avid collectors and professional poachers, especially in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Cactus plants usually consist of spiny stems and roots. Leaves are greatly reduced or entirely absent. Only in two genera are fully formed leaves present. The stems of cacti are usually swollen and fleshy, adapted to water storage, and many are shaped in ways that cause rain to flow directly to the root system for absorption. The roots form extensive systems near the soil surface, assuring that a given plant will absorb the maximum amount of water from a wide area; plants in deserts are usually widely spaced.

The most distinctive vegetative feature of cacti is the areoles, specialized areas on the stems on which stiff, sharp spines usually grow. Some cacti lack spines but have hairs or sharp, barbed structures called glocids on the areoles. Areoles develop from lateral buds on the stems and appear to represent highly specialized branches.

The flowers of cacti are often large and showy and occur singly rather than in clusters of several flowers. The perianth (floral tube) does not consist of sharply differentiated sepals and petals, but rather of a series of bracts (modified leaves), which gradually grade into sepals and finally into showy petals. The flowers have many stamens; the ovary is inferior and fused to the perianth. The fruits are often brightly colored and fleshy.

Most of the 130 or so genera of cacti are found in cultivation, the small, slow-growing species being most popular because of their variety in shapes, colors, and spines. One of the best-known is a group containing beautiful night-blooming flowers and the familiar saguaro plant. In some classifications, this group is split into as many as 10 separate genera . Still more widely grown is the group containing the Christmas cactus. Species of this group, which naturally occur as epiphytes (air plants) in tropical rain forests, do not fit the popular idea of cacti as squat, fleshy plants of desert regions. Examination of their stems, however, reveals the presence of the cactus family’s unique areoles; their flowers have the typical cactus features.

Many groups of plants that are unrelated to cacti have also adapted to survive in arid regions and often resemble cacti in appearance. These offer examples of parallel evolution: Unrelated organisms subjected to similar environmental stresses often evolve similar anatomical and functional characteristics. For example, many spurges that grow in dry parts of Africa, where cacti are not found, exhibit leafless, spiny, fleshy stems .

Scientific classification: Cacti make up the family Cactaceae. Cacti with fully formed leaves are classified in the genera Pereskia and Pereskiopsis. The night-blooming flowers and the saguaro plant are classified in the genus Cereus. The Christmas cactus is classified as Schlumbergera bridgesii.