# Foods that cannot be eaten right off the tree/vine/stalk **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593 "2005-12-01T19:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/1 "2005-12-01T19:13:25Z")
I’ve read, occasionally, that olives right off the tree are inedible; they need to be pickled in brine before they’re fit to eat. The Wikipedia article on olives – [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive\_(fruit)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_%28fruit%29) – makes no mention of this. Is it true? I also read once (I think it was in Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel _The Gold Coast_ – [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890370/qid=1133464112/sr=8-8/ref=pd\_bbs\_8/102-8357406-3872927?n=507846&s=books&v=glance](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312890370/qid=1133464112/sr=8-8/ref=pd_bbs_8/102-8357406-3872927?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)) that pre-Columbian Indians in Southern California lived largely on acorn flour – but first they had to put it through a leaching process; untreated acorns are good for squirrels and pigs but poisonous to humans. True? What about cereals? In a Soviet WWII movie, _Fate of a Man,_ I once saw the hero, a soldier hiding out from the Germans, strip some grains of wheat from the stalk with his bare hands, roll away the chaff, and eat the raw grains. Well, I’ve eaten tabouli with what appeared to be raw bulghur (cracked wheat) in it, so I guess that’s possible. But what about rice? I would not think of trying to eat raw the rice one buys from a supermarket – but it occurs to me that just-harvested rice, not yet dried for storage, might (or might not) be edible raw. After all, you can’t eat dried pasta, but you could probably eat raw fresh-made pasta (unless it’s made with eggs – raw eggs might give you salmonella poisining). Does anyone know? What other vegetables, fruits, nuts, grains, etc., require some kind of cooking or other treatment before they’re safe/fit to eat? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/2 "2005-12-01T19:18:20Z")
Chestnuts need to be roasted before they’re edible. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/3 "2005-12-01T19:20:28Z")
[Taro](http://www.ntbg.org/plants/plantresource_new3.php?rid=144&focus=1) ---
**Author:** ![who\_me\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@who\_me\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/who_me_2)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/4 "2005-12-01T19:29:31Z")
Actually, according to Jared Diamond in “Guns, Germs, and Steel”, most acorns were just plain inedible, due to high tannin content. It was the occasional mutant tree that produced 'corns without tannins, which made them palatable. my favorite inedible/edible fruit: quince. ---
**Author:** ![Tevildo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Tevildo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tevildo)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/5 "2005-12-01T19:33:33Z")
[Kidney beans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytohaemagglutinin) need to be boiled for at least 10 minutes before eating, otherwise they’re positively toxic. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/6 "2005-12-01T19:34:17Z")
Tapioca. The root it comes from is poisonous. Once cooked or processed, it’s harmless. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/7 "2005-12-01T19:41:05Z")
Beans. They’re poisonous raw. Not _that_ poisonous, but they’ll give you a bad case of the runs. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/8 "2005-12-01T19:49:38Z")
Cashew nuts are pretty cool. Technically, you can eat them right of the tree, but only if you shell them cleanly. If not, toxin from the shell gets on it. ---
**Author:** ![Waterman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Waterman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waterman)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/9 "2005-12-01T19:49:46Z")
I believe that artichokes would fall into this category as they would seemingly be a little tough on the digestive tract raw. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/10 "2005-12-01T19:50:31Z")
[Bananas](http://www.crisco.com/basics/all_about/bananas.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/11 "2005-12-01T19:58:06Z")
Cashews are surround by a caustic liquid in the shell. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/12 "2005-12-01T19:59:57Z")
Nobody knows about olives? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/13 "2005-12-01T20:02:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Nobody knows about olives? Olives taste like crap raw. I’ve tasted them. They won’t kill you though, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/14 "2005-12-01T21:36:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > (unless it’s made with eggs – raw eggs might give you salmonella poisining). Y’know, this idea that undercooked eggs are gonna kill you is just completely overblown. Raw eggs are no big deal. Yeah, a few people out of 250 million might get a tummyache every year from eating raw eggs, but they’re certainly not poisonous, especially if you’re a healthy adult. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/15 "2005-12-01T22:02:09Z")
Pokeweed, an edible green common in the South, is OK when you eat the green, new shoots. But once the plant ages and the shoots turn red, the plant becomes poisonous. So it’s kinda iffy. But it is a great green, grows wild all over the place and has kept a lot of Southern bellies full in lean times (should those lean times occur in March, April and May, when the plant is young). ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/16 "2005-12-01T22:03:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Beans. They’re poisonous raw. Not _that_ poisonous, but they’ll give you a bad case of the runs. This is a large category. Surely this doesn’t apply across \*all \* of them. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/17 "2005-12-01T22:12:53Z")
Plantains. They won’t do you any particular harm raw, but as my grandfather found out when he mistook them for bannanas, they taste like starchy wood. I can’t think of any instance where plantains are (intentionally) eaten straight from the tree. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/18 "2005-12-01T22:46:58Z")
> [@psycat90](#): > > [Bananas](http://www.crisco.com/basics/all_about/bananas.asp) You can’t eat bananas right off the tree? I wish someone had told me because I’ve done it numerous times with absolutely no ill effects. As your link says, bananas ripened on the tree become starchy and bland. That doesn’t make them in any way inedible. In parts of SE Asia sweet bananas are considered a defect and a sign that the fruit isn’t fresh because it was picked unripe and left to ripen off the tree. So bananas definitely don’t qualify. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Nobody knows about olives? Fresh olives are intolerably bitter. AFAIK they aren’t poisonous, but given the taste I doubt anyone has ever eaten enough to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/19 "2005-12-01T23:27:52Z")
Tomatillos–the basic ingredient of salsa verde. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593/20 "2005-12-01T23:28:20Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > So bananas definitely don’t qualify. Fair enough. They certainly can be eaten off a tree. I just didn’t think it is how they are preferred. Definitely not toxic in any way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-that-cannot-be-eaten-right-off-the-tree-vine-stalk/333593.md?page=2)