Survival Skill: Edibility Test

The Ediblity Test

There may come a time when you are so desperate for food that you begin looking to the greenery around you. Many edible plants are well-known and easily foraged. We know from experience what we can and can't eat. If we don't know, we look to books and the internet.

So what happens when we're in unfamiliar surrounds with no comms?

You need a way to test that a plant is not-poisonous. What is called the 'Edibility Test' should probably be called the 'not-poisonous test' because while a plant may not kill you, it may not provide any nutritional benefit either.

However, what I'll write here is a method to check that what you are looking at is fit for consumption.


There are a few ground rules:

1. Make sure there is enough of the plant to sustain you first. This is a long test and you need to ensure it's worth the wait!

2. You are to consume no food or water for 8 hours.

3. This does NOT work on Fungi. There is NO sure-fire test for Fungi.


Contact / Prepare / Taste

1. Eat / drink nothing for 8 hours.

2. Crush the part of the plant that you wish to eat, rub on sensitive part of the body such as underside of the wrist or inside the elbow. Wait for 15 minutes. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

3. Crush the same part of the plant and touch it to the side of the mouth. Wait for 15 mins. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

4. Prepare the same part of the plant in a way that you would want to eat it; boil it, wave it over a fire, roast it, etc... or just leave it raw. The point here is that cooking can change the properties of the plant.

5. Place your sample in your mouth, do not chew, wait for 15 mins. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

6. Place a fresh sample in your mouth and chew for 5 mins. Do not swallow. If there is any reaction, get rid of it.

7. Place a fresh sample in your mouth, chew it and swallow it. Wait 8 hours.

If, after all of this time (almost 17 hrs), there is no reaction then collect it, prepare it and eat it.


I repeat though, this DOES NOT work for Fungi. There is NO test for Fungi.