tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post8363083890569583441..comments2023-10-31T07:14:05.264-04:00Comments on The Scientist Gardener: Is Sunberry Poisonous?Matt DiLeohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08602997050973123349noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-19265430116818131162014-04-02T22:40:27.240-04:002014-04-02T22:40:27.240-04:002 years later and this is the best information i c...2 years later and this is the best information i can find. i bought seeds from rareseeds and am puzzled. My flowers are yellow, but anywhere i look, they're meant to have white flowers? who knows. also- everyone has said different things for flavor....oh well, guess we will wait and see!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04240326792116654180noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-23239134175978395422013-08-10T18:28:55.121-04:002013-08-10T18:28:55.121-04:00I have sunberries growing in my yard (from previou...I have sunberries growing in my yard (from previous homeowner) and the taste is mild. If you gently twist the ripe berries off there is not so much squishing of the berries. I like to pick a handful in the morning, soak for a few minutes in hot tap water, then add to my granola cereal along with other dried fruits and nuts for a healthy breakfast. They look like small blueberries. I don't think I'd bother trying to make jam with them as you'd really need to pick a lot of them, they're seedy not juicy, and why add tons of sugar to something - just eat them raw!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-47674420147634431062012-07-28T16:02:16.489-04:002012-07-28T16:02:16.489-04:00Ate some of these that my lady friend is growing i...Ate some of these that my lady friend is growing in Albuquerque. I'm not sure where she got the seeds from, but she's been raving about them after growing them last year. She said they were here "go-to snack by the end of last summer." She's way into the Ayurvedic tradition, so perhaps that's where she heard of them? <br /><br />While not sweet, the sunberries do have a good flavor. It's very subtle, and she describes them as "earthy." I'd say it's an unsweetened fruity flavor. It tastes and smells like a fruit/berry, but the flavor is extremely mild with almost no sweetness or tartness. It's actually good.<br /><br />I'm curious about the nutritional properties of these little beauties. I wish there was more info online, but this was helpful - especially the comments. Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-52106064019362926112012-06-26T16:05:06.766-04:002012-06-26T16:05:06.766-04:00Thanks for this post! I have a couple of these pl...Thanks for this post! I have a couple of these plants in my garden, they are in flower right now. This is the first year I am growing this.Steve Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04378643135775146147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-13718935309380685732012-05-15T09:23:29.612-04:002012-05-15T09:23:29.612-04:00I'm growing some this year, God willing (from ...I'm growing some this year, God willing (from rareseeds.com). MANY people say these are the best kind! Too bad I can NOT turn to a good source to get the nitty-gritty on the nutritional factors of this type ("solanum burbankii"). Anyone making jam can can probably avoid the "runny" aspect by using pectin or gelatin. Lots of other fruits have the same type of need when making jam. I can't WAIT to taste-test the first ones grown on this farm in northern Missouri.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-14768636008091262922012-04-22T19:51:14.513-04:002012-04-22T19:51:14.513-04:00The sunberry plant is found in every garden in Tam...The sunberry plant is found in every garden in Tamil nadu, India. The leaves are much sought after - they have a slight bitter taste. They are cooked with mung beans and coconut. It is supposed to cure liver problems.If there is a minor cut on the body, you can crush a sunberry leaf and apply the juice. It has healing properties.<br />The green sunberries are salted and sun dried and used in cooking thorughout the year.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-42032685134381659722012-01-10T16:27:19.984-05:002012-01-10T16:27:19.984-05:00Sunberries are quite edible. If cool, then the be...Sunberries are quite edible. If cool, then the berries have a very peculiar sweet taste, not pleasant. If however, they are very hot having been in an extremely hot greenhouse in New Mexico, then they taste pleasant, and I imagine would go well with hot chocolateMarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15298303681158987258noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-60830967804644249492011-12-12T20:35:51.264-05:002011-12-12T20:35:51.264-05:00LOl...planning my garden for spring and I was cons...LOl...planning my garden for spring and I was considering Sunberry...guess I won't bother now..tganks for the consise informationandreahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10943331024011388661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-20746642782095127412011-12-03T15:35:38.285-05:002011-12-03T15:35:38.285-05:00I found a ferral wonderberry in my garden in 2010 ...I found a ferral wonderberry in my garden in 2010 that i think came with the mice. The leaves tasted like spinach. It's actually edible in it's ripe form late in the season, but if you try them too early (in ripeness or in the season) they do seem to have a slight taste to them that could be poisonous. I tend to think they are generally edible, but they could use a bit of breeding work to make them better.<br /><br />I also found a wild black nightshade in my yard that looked similar, but instead had orange dots, smaller leaves, and a glassy appearance when ripe, and this one WAS poisonous, because i tasted part of it's leaf and it gave me an instant headache.<br /><br />Here is a picture i drew that compared the two. The large leaf is the wonderberry with a dark dull berry. The small jagged leaf with the clear shiny berry is the poisonous one (with tiny orange dots missing from the picture). http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/science/leaf2.pngAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-61103615991042675622011-09-16T16:57:11.861-04:002011-09-16T16:57:11.861-04:00Just found your site--great! I'll be back.
I ...Just found your site--great! I'll be back.<br /><br />I recommend Jennifer Edmonds monograph: "Black Nightshades" http://www.underutilized-species.org/documents/PUBLICATIONS/black_nightshades.pdf Interesting speculation about Luther Burbank's Wonderberry.<br /><br />Also a nice write up on my favorite black nightshade, Chichiquelite. There is an interaction with soil or climate though, sometimes the berries are tasty and sweet, other times rather bland and not sweet.woodsy_gardenerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16332892201134992904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-14729139372078308162010-06-18T01:26:48.930-04:002010-06-18T01:26:48.930-04:00I've always felt that "Wonderberry" ...I've always felt that "Wonderberry" was the most outrageously hyperbolic appellation. Shame on you, Luther. The wonder is that anyone grows this damned weed more than once. I've used it as a pie filler (aka adulterant) and can confirm, like Jeremy, that it tastes of nothing much in particular. Ah, but I bet it's full of antioxidants and will be appearing on a superfoods list sometime soon. Yawn.Rhizowenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13898344291012563139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-40023396520497336402010-06-15T19:12:40.682-04:002010-06-15T19:12:40.682-04:00Yep, ground cherries along with any other fruit I ...Yep, ground cherries along with any other fruit I happened to mention were part of my research are included in this. I haven't gone far enough into the data to see what kinds of compounds we can see in anything but the sunberry though.Matt DiLeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08602997050973123349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-62185165507758395712010-06-14T11:32:11.253-04:002010-06-14T11:32:11.253-04:00I LOL'd at this: "they usually goosh out ...I LOL'd at this: "they usually goosh out their innards. . ." :D Thanks for the fascinating read! I remember you mentioning ground cherries in some long-ago post. Did you ever do toxicity studies on those? Thanks.Michelle Clayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13740702104128263822noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-56816790586629138492010-06-13T14:33:42.229-04:002010-06-13T14:33:42.229-04:00No, but they look like pretty cool plants!
We gr...No, but they look like pretty cool plants! <br /><br />We grew S. elaeagnifolium, but it wouldn't set fruit. I don't know if those fruit are poisonous and would be surprised if ANYONE really knows (unless they were regularly consumed by aboriginal peoples).<br /><br />We still have a ton to learn about what's actually in our foods and their wild relatives.Matt DiLeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08602997050973123349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-59512638635250862352010-06-13T12:21:36.103-04:002010-06-13T12:21:36.103-04:00you didn't happen to test solanum pyracanthum ...you didn't happen to test solanum pyracanthum or solanum atropurpureum? i am growing both of them this year and can't figure out if the fruit is edible. some sources say yes, some no, some maybe.<br /><br />solanum aviculare is another one that comes with mixed reports. although it seems PROBABLY not poisonous.eeldiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08241215073913298993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-56365911961764949772010-06-12T14:37:49.898-04:002010-06-12T14:37:49.898-04:00ha! thanks for the inputha! thanks for the inputMatt DiLeohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08602997050973123349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1710169082937042837.post-34997528153153052122010-06-12T10:59:36.071-04:002010-06-12T10:59:36.071-04:00I grew a Seed Savers selection a few years ago, an...I grew a Seed Savers selection a few years ago, and made jelly out of it, and I can confirm that it is practically taste-free. On the other hand, I am here to tell the tale.Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04639265958695262241noreply@blogger.com