Content

• Method 2 of 2: Know What You Are Looking For
• Tips
• Warnings

1 Avoid using this method without a thorough plan. Some plants are deadly and even if you follow our recommendations, there is always a chance of getting seriously ill.

• Get ready to test wild plants for edibility: study the local flora and fauna, buy a reference book or taxonomic key so you can identify wild plants.
• If you are not prepared and cannot find truly safe food, then remember that depending on your level of activity, the body can be viable for days. Better to be hungry than poisoned.

2 Look for plants that are abundant. There is no point in testing for edibility, if there are few plants, you will have nothing to eat.

3 Do not eat or drink anything other than clean water in the 8 hours prior to your check. If you have to use this method, then this path will be inevitable.

4 Divide the plants piece by piece. Some plants have edible parts and poisonous parts. In order to test how edible a plant is, you need to divide it into flower, stem and leaves. Everything must be checked separately for edibility.

• After you have cut the plant apart, check it for insects. If you find worms or other insects in the plant, throw it away and take a new sample for testing. If the plant contains insects or worms, then the plant is with a wormhole, especially if the insects have already left the plant.
• Many plant parts are edible only at certain times of the year. For example, acorns harvested in winter already have a wormhole. If you find the larvae inside the plant, then the plant is edible and contains a large amount of protein, the larvae, by the way, are also edible, only they are sour and hard.

5 Determine if the plant is poisonous on the outside. Such a plant will burn your skin. Place the portion of your choice on your wrist or the inside of your hand. Mash it up and wait 15 minutes. If a reaction to the plant appears within the next 8 hours, do not eat it.

• Do this manipulation with each part of the plant until you determine that they all do not give any reaction.

6 Prepare a small batch of the plant. Some plants are poisonous when raw. So try to cook the part of the plant you are testing. If you do not have the opportunity to cook this plant and will not have such an opportunity in the future, then check the plant raw.

7 Try the plant on your tongue. This is the most dangerous test, so do it slowly and carefully. Here are some guidelines for doing this:

• Apply a small piece of plant to your lips for 3 minutes. Don't put it in your mouth. If you feel a burning sensation or other discomfort, then do not continue checking.
• Place another piece of the plant on your tongue. Keep it on your tongue without chewing for about 15 minutes. If you feel unpleasant, then do not check further.
• Now you can chew the plant and hold it in your mouth for another 15 minutes. Chew well, do not swallow. If you feel uncomfortable, do not continue checking.
• Swallow a small piece of the plant.

8 Wait 8 hours. Do not eat or drink anything during this period other than clean water.If you feel unwell, induce vomiting and drink plenty of water. If you have activated charcoal, drink it with water. If the plant check fails, do not continue checking the plant further.

9 Eat 1/4 cup of the same plant portion, cooked in the same way. It is very important that you try the plant the same way as the first time.

10 Wait another 8 hours. Don't eat anything, just drink clean water. If you feel unwell, induce vomiting and drink plenty of water. If everything is in order, then this part of the plant can be eaten without harm to your health, but only in the form in which you tried it.

11 Start a new test if a part of the plant fails one of the test steps. If the first part of the plant turns out to be poisonous, you can attach the next part of the plant to the other hand. If you have a reaction to a plant, then you don't need to check if it is edible or not. Wait for symptoms to pass and start a new test. If you have any discomfort after trying the plant, wait for the symptoms of poisoning to pass and start a new test. This plant may have some edible parts, but it is preferable to leave it and move on to the next plant.

12 If you have access to other food, then you can check gradually. If you have something to eat, then break the test into parts: you can use 8 hours of normal sleep, as 8 hours of the edibility test of the plant. Do not forget that you can carry out such checks if you have the ability to survive, that is, you have food to maintain the body, or if you cannot find a description of the plant, but want to test it for edibility without risking health.

• Wake up in the morning and have your skin tested. After 8 hours, eat a normal meal, not the one you are testing.
• Finish the test the next morning by swallowing a piece of the plant. After 8 hours, after making sure that you are all right, eat your normal meal again.
• Eat the complete plant sample the next morning. After 8 hours, celebrate that you are alive and that you have another plant to eat.
• Do not neglect any steps, advice, or caution. This method is designed to deprive your body of the 24-hour stress of fasting and so that you can test the plant for its edibility in a specific area without fasting for more than 16 hours a day, but only 8 hours on the last day of testing. by eating ¼ cup of food that will support you.

Method 2 of 2: Know What You Are Looking For

1. 1 You should be aware of the signs of poisonous plants. Some plants that look poisonous, taste and smell completely edible, but some of them have signs that they should not be eaten by humans. If you avoid such plants, then it is quite possible that you will miss the edible plant, but still remain alive. Stay away from plants with the following characteristics:
   • Milky juice.
   • The smell of almonds.
   • Seeds, beans, or peas inside the pods.
   • There are thorns, spines, or fine hairs.
   • Bitter taste.
   • Seed heads with pink or black thorns.
   • Inflorescences of three leaves.
2. 2 Look for recognizable edible plants. If you know what you are looking for, then perhaps you will find what you saw in stores on the shelves. Every plant deemed wild must be tested for edibility in the manner described above, as some poisonous plants are similar to edible plants. In any case, plants that look like edibles can be tasted:
   • Blueberry
   • Blackberry
   • Dandelion
   • Asparagus
   • Strawberry
   • Wild onion
   • Persimmon
   • Chestnut
   • Bananas
   • Mango
   • Coconuts
   • Papaya
   • Tarot
   • Cactus
3. 3 Don't forget about seaweed. Seaweed is a nutritious food and edible if you've just picked it from the ocean. Do not try to eat seaweed that is washed on the shore.If you can get to the algae and harvest some, then you have a wonderful food source fortified with minerals and vitamin C. Here are the most famous edible algae:
   • Seaweed
   • Green algae
   • Irish moss
   • Dark red edible seaweed
   • Red algae

Tips

• Collect ripe tropical fruits and eat them. If you have to eat unripe fruit, cook it first. Follow all directions with these fruits until you are sure they are edible.
• Prepare the rhizomes of the plants, if possible, in order to kill germs and bacteria.
• If you see that an animal is eating a plant, this does not mean that it is edible for you. Some plants that are poisonous to humans are quite edible for the animal.
• Collect berries (blackberries and raspberries). They are usually harmless to humans. Although in some places where blackberries are considered a weed, they can be sprayed with herbicides. The only exception is the white blackberry, which only grows in Alaska.
• The information in this article, especially the precautions, can help you identify edible plants. All warnings are written in order to protect you from poisonous plants.
• Avoid plants with bulbs unless they exude the familiar smell of onions or garlic.

Warnings

• Once you have determined that the plant is edible, pick it, not similar plants. Many plants are similar.
• Avoid plants with umbrella flowers.
• Before you start trying unfamiliar plants, look around: maybe there is something to eat, such as coconuts, meat, fish or other food. If nothing else, then be careful when checking plants and berries for edibility.
• Avoid milky sap plants. You shouldn't eat the plantain stems, but the rest are edible.
• Avoid fungi and similar fungal plants. Many mushrooms are edible, but many are deadly and if you do not know exactly which ones, then you will not fix the fatal mistake.
• In general, avoid thorny and thorny plants. If such a plant has berries, then they are edible. Among the exceptions are thistle and prickly pear (cactus).
• Checking plants can be dangerous. You can only resort to such measures in exceptional cases.
• Do not eat plants that contain worms, insects, or parasites.
• Avoid plants with shiny leaves.
• Avoid plants with yellow, white, or red berries.
• It is not a fact that an animal eats a plant that it is edible for humans.
• Avoid holy berries, which are red in color and full of juicy flesh, they are highly toxic. Only birds eat them.
• Do not eat peach or almond seeds as they contain small amounts of cyanide.