Sea Buckthorn.

[sime42]

2 hours ago, peds said:

 

Cultivars:

 

Proportions, I honestly couldn't tell you, as for two gallons I used the honey washed out with boiling water from the bottom of my frame spinner, the jam pan I was using to hold it before bottling, the funnel, sieve, and wax cappings; plus a couple of jars for good measure. And there was probably about 1.6kg of berries in the buckthorn one, not sure what quantity of juice that yielded.

 

Nice one. Thank you.

Just need to find some room to plant a couple of trees now.

 

This place has some good stuff;-

https://www.pennardplants.com/products.php?cat=472

 

 

[peds]

Well that's interesting:

 

Glastonbury Thorn, Crataegus monogyna 'Biflora', Edible Shrubs and Trees

WWW.PENNARDPLANTS.COM

 

"It is distinguished by the fact that it flowers twice a year, the first time in winter and the second time in spring. According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea visited Glastonbury with the Holy Grail and thrust his staff into the ground at Wearyall Hill, from which grew the original Glastonbury thorn. The original tree has been propagated many times, and two trees survive in the grounds of the Church of St John at Glastonbury Abbey, from which flowers were sent to Queen Elizabeth II every Christmas. Cuttings have been taken from these and other trees to perpetuate the legend. "

[sime42]

On 05/10/2023 at 00:16, Macpherson said:

 

Ime this is what you want in any base fruit or seed, it's very often the fingerprint of a substance called Amygdalin. . which is found in many seeds and berries that haven't  been bred / cultivated to suit today's sweet tastes, this substance has been vilified for decades in order to prevent folk from consuming it.

 

When I process wild berries I usually blitz them in order to release the contents of the seeds into the brew.. 

' an apple a day ' and all that, as long as you eat the seeds...

 

If you can get through the first few pages of google misinformation and warnings there's a lot to be learned on this subject, cheers.

 

 

 

Amygdalin. Not heard of that before, cheers. Seems to be an interesting if controversial compound. Must be similar to the almond smelling stuff in Laurel leaves, they're all in the Prunus Genus anyway.

 

Do you seek out the Amygdalin specifically for something or just happy to consume it alongside everything else? Pectin is another good thing contained within fruit and berries, and similarly, the more of the non fruit bits, (skins, seeds, stalks etc), you can consume the better.

 

You're right about today's sweet tastes, things have moved far too far down that route. In the West we eat crazy amounts of the crap, and we're seeing the consequences of it. The tolerance for sharp/sour and bitter has been pretty much lost. Have you tried shop bought jam or other prepared "fruit" products? It's rank imo, just oversweet blandness, no real flavour. .

 

 

 

 

[daltontrees]

18 minutes ago, sime42 said:

 

Must be similar to the almond smelling stuff in Laurel leaves, they're all in the Prunus Genus anyway.

No, that's hydrogen cyanide.

[sime42]

1 hour ago, daltontrees said:

No, that's hydrogen cyanide.

 

I think the Amygdalin stuff breaks down to a cyanide compound, hence the toxicity.

[daltontrees]

|Wikipedia is pretty good on this.

Amygdalin - Wikipedia

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Basically, amygdalin breaks down to form among other things cyanide, And rather alarmingly "Eating amygdalin will cause it to release cyanide in the human body, and may lead to cyanide poisoning.^"

^{And also mentioned is "}Benzaldehyde released from amygdalin provides a bitter flavor.".

 

Sounds like Sea Buckthorn is quite the cocktail of pungent stuff.

[daltontrees]

It gets better. According to Wikipedia "Within [Prunus] plants, amygdalin and the enzymes necessary to hydrolyze it [i.e. cause it to release hydrogen cyanide] are stored in separate locations, and only mix as a result of tissue damage. This provides a natural defense system.^"

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, daltontrees said:

It gets better. According to Wikipedia "Within [Prunus] plants, amygdalin and the enzymes necessary to hydrolyze it [i.e. cause it to release hydrogen cyanide] are stored in separate locations, and only mix as a result of tissue damage. This provides a natural defense system.^"

which is why you need to crush (or chip) laurel leaves before they small of almonds

[Macpherson]

On 06/10/2023 at 18:59, daltontrees said:

It gets better. According to Wikipedia "Within [Prunus] plants, amygdalin and the enzymes necessary to hydrolyze it [i.e. cause it to release hydrogen cyanide] are stored in separate locations, and only mix as a result of tissue damage. This provides a natural defense system.^"

 

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much store in the scare tactics, warnings and BS on this subject that is prevalent online in google pages.

 

Amygdalin has been identified in over 1200 common and often viewed ' healthy ' foodstuffs such as nuts, seeds, grains, fruits, berries, herbs and veggies, Sea Buckthorn being in that group.

One of the strongest sources being bitter Apricot kernels which I've included in my diet for more than 10 years with only positive results.

 

I would normally provide a useful link but it seems that most of what I'd previously read on the subject has been removed due to censorship... but it won't take much of a search to discover just what  that subject is.

 

 

 

 

[daltontrees]

15 hours ago, Macpherson said:

 

Yeah, I wouldn't put too much store in the scare tactics, warnings and BS on this subject that is prevalent online in google pages.

 

Amygdalin has been identified in over 1200 common and often viewed ' healthy ' foodstuffs such as nuts, seeds, grains, fruits, berries, herbs and veggies, Sea Buckthorn being in that group.

One of the strongest sources being bitter Apricot kernels which I've included in my diet for more than 10 years with only positive results.

 

I would normally provide a useful link but it seems that most of what I'd previously read on the subject has been removed due to censorship... but it won't take much of a search to discover just what  that subject is.

I'm not sure if you're disagreeing with me, but all I was saying is that plants have evolved an elegant mechanism to poison herbivores by managing to store 2 components of the poison separately and mixing them only when herbivores (or tree surgeons) attack. Sort of like how epoxy resin comes in 2 liquids that combine within minutes to go rock solid.

I believe Wikipedia on this. It's not always right but a lot of people (myself included) have taken time to refine it and correct it carefully. The Amydgalin entry is typical, it looks like it has been written honetly by a scientist then edited by someone who has an agenda about Laetrile.