Recently, the epidemic situation across the country is severe. Some people can’t get vegetables, some people have dug up wild vegetables, and some people even set their sights on green belts.
(Actually, is it the season to eat wild vegetables? / Source: Weibo)
Some people think that wild vegetables not only taste fresh and tender, but also have high nutritional value. Others think that wild vegetables are at risk of poisoning and should not be eaten. So, can we dig wild vegetables? Can we go to the park to dig?
The wild vegetable you picked may be poisonous
Wild vegetables refer to edible herbs or woody plants that grow naturally without extensive artificial cultivation, usually referring to the tender leaves of some grasses or the tender shoots of some trees, most of them are green leafy vegetables .
Common wild vegetables such as toona sinensis, grass head, bracken, shepherd’s purse, amaranth, gray cabbage, medlar, malan, dandelion, purslane, wild pea, cress, etc.
(Toon/Photo Source: Figure Worm Creative)
(Shepherd’s Purse/Photo Source: Figure Worm Creative)
(Dandelion/Image source: CFH Herbarium)
(Portulaca oleracea/Photo source: CFH Herbarium)
It should be noted that some poisonous plants look very similar to wild vegetables. Even if you use image recognition software, you cannot tell them apart. Food poisoning can easily be caused after picking and eating.
For example, poison hemlock looks similar to cress, but poison hemlock contains hemlock, methyl hemlock and poison hemlock, which may cause epilepsy, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea if eaten by mistake. , arrhythmia, mydriasis, breathing disorders, coma and other symptoms.
(cress [left] and poison hemlock [right]/Photo source: CFH Herbarium)
Calla lilies, also known as Tianhe, Guanghe, Guanyin lotus, dripping Guanyin, etc., are often mistakenly eaten as taro or sweet taro. Skin contact with its sap is prone to itching. Accidental ingestion of its stems and leaves will cause itching, swelling, salivation, stomach burning, or nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, convulsions and other symptoms. In severe cases, it may cause suffocation, Died of a heart attack.
(Alocasia/Photo source: CFH Herbarium)
Datura is similar in appearance to okra, and its toxic ingredients include alkaloids such as scopolamine, atropine, and scopolamine. Symptoms generally appear 20 to 30 minutes after eating, and no more than 3 hours at the latest. , the symptoms mostly disappear or basically disappear within 24 hours, and the severe cases will disappear within 24 hours.Hours later, drowsiness, convulsions, cyanosis, and finally dizziness and death occurred.
(Mandala/Source: CFH Herbarium)
The Lycoris (also known as the other side flower) looks like garlic sprouts before it blooms, especially the root part, but it contains more than 10 alkaloids, which can affect the human digestive tract and nervous system. make an impact. After contact with the skin, it will become red, swollen and itchy. Entering the respiratory tract will cause epistaxis. The symptoms of oral poisoning are: salivation, vomiting, diarrhea, stiff tongue, convulsions, cold hands and feet, weak pulse, shock, and even death due to paralysis of the respiratory center.
(Lycoris/Photo source: CFH Herbarium)
Are wild vegetables more nutritious?
Because of the longer growth cycle or the influence of the living environment, wild vegetables are often more flavorful than “home vegetables”, but the nutritional components of wild vegetables and “home vegetables” are similar, and there may be some wild vegetables The content of individual nutrients is slightly higher than that of cultivated vegetables, such as protein, vitamin C, vitamin B1, calcium, iron and other nutrients:
The protein of wolfberry vegetable (5.6g/100g) is more than twice that of spinach (2.6g/100g).
The vitamin C of grass head (118 mg/100 g) is more than 3 times that of spinach (32 mg/100 g).
Shepherd’s purse has more than four times the calcium (294 mg/100 g) of spinach (66 mg/100 g).
However, these nutrients can also be obtained through normal diet, and there is no need to supplement with wild vegetables, and wild vegetables have some obvious consumption risks.
Zhejiang Province has carried out the determination of heavy metal content of 3 kinds of wild vegetables such as Malan, shepherd’s purse and cress in 8 regions of Neijiang, Hangzhou, Jinhua, Quzhou, Huzhou, Lishui, Shaoxing, Ningbo and Wenzhou. It was found that the contents of Pb, Cd, Hg and As all exceeded the standard, especially the exceeding rate of Pb reached 56.7%.
(Source: Reference [4])
Therefore, natural growth does not mean green and pollution-free. Wild vegetables that grow near factories and along roads with poor sanitation environment are more likely to be polluted by heavy metals and enriched with various toxins.
The wild vegetables growing in the park seem to have a good environment, but they are also easily polluted by herbicides, and there is a problem of excessive pesticides.
In addition to heavy metals exceeding the standard, some wild vegetables may also be slightly toxic, so pay attention to the way they are eaten.
For example, the content of nitrate in Toona sinensis buds is relatively low in the early stage, and as the buds grow, the content of nitrates also increases. Especially pickled toon sprouts, the nitrite content increased. Blanch the toon in boiling water for about 1 minute to remove more than two-thirds of the nitrite and nitrate.
Portulaca oleracea contains alkaloids, coumarin, flavonoids, oxalates, anthraquinones, etc. If you eat too much, you will experience symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, muscle weakness, and lethargy. . Symptoms will disappear on their own after the patients with mild illness stop eating; those with persistent symptoms should seek medical attention immediately.
Bracken contains harmful substances such as proteroside. Excessive consumption will cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, and abdominal pain, mainly colic around the umbilicus. If there is diarrhea or the stool is not formed, it needs to be boiled for 15 minutes or steamed for 10-12 minutes before cooking.
Although shepherd’s purse is rich in nutrients, it has a high content of oxalic acid. Before eating, it should be blanched in boiling water for 1 minute.
In fact, many traditional wild vegetables, such as shepherd’s purse, white wormwood, Chinese toon, etc., have been artificially cultivated. You can buy them when you walk into regular supermarkets or vegetable markets. Traveling through mountains and rivers to choose a “feng shui treasure land” for mining, the quality is guaranteed.
(Toon in the supermarket/image source: see watermark)
In short, if you want to pick wild vegetables on a spring outing, you must be cautious. Do not pick wild vegetables that you don’t know, are familiar with, or are not sure of. They grow in parks, around roads and near factories, and in wastewater streams. Do not pick wild vegetables in areas with poor sanitary conditions.
When cooking, pick and clean the wild vegetables, blanch them in super hot water, and people who have a history of allergies to wild vegetables, infants, pregnant women, nursing mothers and people with digestive system diseases should not eat them Or eat less wild vegetables.
If you feel unwell after eating wild vegetables, you need to stop eating them and seek medical attention immediately. It is best to take pictures of the whole wild vegetables and save them before eating, so as to facilitate the doctor’s treatment.
Editor: Dr. Chunyu
References:
[1]. While preventing and controlling the epidemic, please also be alert to wild vegetablesPoisoning[J].Hunan Safety and Disaster Prevention,2021(02):62-63.
[2] Li Xianghao, Xue Jing. Analysis of 3 cases of poisoning by accidental ingestion of wild celery [J]. Chinese Journal of Practical Internal Medicine, 2007, 27(S2): 159-160.
[3]Liu Huan. Can the wild vegetables be picked on the roadside? [J]. Food Industry, 2021(05):78-79.
[4] Shang Suwei, Wu Cuirong, Jiang Buyun. Determination of heavy metal content in three wild vegetables in Zhejiang Province [J]. Jiangsu Agricultural Science, 2014(4):266-267. DOI:10.3969 /j.issn.1002-1302.2014.04.100.