Universal Edibility Test
1 - Test only one part of a potential food plant at a time.
2 - Separate the plant into its basic components — leaves, stems, roots, buds and flower
3 - Smell the food for strong or acid odors. Remember, smell alone does not indicate a plant is edible or inedible.
4 - Do not eat for eight hours before starting the test.
5 - During the eight hours you abstain from eating, test for contact poisoning by placing a piece of the plant part you are testing on the inside of your elbow or wrist. Usually 15 minutes is enough time to allow for a reaction.
6 - During the test period, take nothing by mouth except purified water and the plant part you are testing.
7- Select a small portion of a single part and prepare it the way you plan to eat it.
8 - Before placing the prepared plant part in your mouth, touch a small portion (a pinch) to the outer surface of your lip to test for burning or itching.
9 - If after three minutes there is no reaction on your lip, place the plant part on your tongue, holding it there for 15 minutes.
10 - If there is no reaction, thoroughly chew a pinch and hold it in your mouth for 15 minutes. Do not swallow.
11 - If no burning, itching, numbing, stinging or other irritation occurs during the 15 minutes, swallow the food.
12 - Wait eight hours. If any ill effects occur during this period, induce vomiting and drink a lot of water.
13 - If no ill effects occur, eat 0.25 cup of the same plant part prepared the same way. Wait another eight hours. If no ill effects occur, the plant part as prepared is safe for eating.
2 - Separate the plant into its basic components — leaves, stems, roots, buds and flower
3 - Smell the food for strong or acid odors. Remember, smell alone does not indicate a plant is edible or inedible.
4 - Do not eat for eight hours before starting the test.
5 - During the eight hours you abstain from eating, test for contact poisoning by placing a piece of the plant part you are testing on the inside of your elbow or wrist. Usually 15 minutes is enough time to allow for a reaction.
6 - During the test period, take nothing by mouth except purified water and the plant part you are testing.
7- Select a small portion of a single part and prepare it the way you plan to eat it.
8 - Before placing the prepared plant part in your mouth, touch a small portion (a pinch) to the outer surface of your lip to test for burning or itching.
9 - If after three minutes there is no reaction on your lip, place the plant part on your tongue, holding it there for 15 minutes.
10 - If there is no reaction, thoroughly chew a pinch and hold it in your mouth for 15 minutes. Do not swallow.
11 - If no burning, itching, numbing, stinging or other irritation occurs during the 15 minutes, swallow the food.
12 - Wait eight hours. If any ill effects occur during this period, induce vomiting and drink a lot of water.
13 - If no ill effects occur, eat 0.25 cup of the same plant part prepared the same way. Wait another eight hours. If no ill effects occur, the plant part as prepared is safe for eating.
What Plants are Edible?
Fruits🍍
Berries-- shaped like peppercorns-- of an evergreen tree which can grow up to 100' in height The small, aromatic fruits have a subtle flavor like a mixture of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg, hence the name "allspice."
Banana: This is the most common Musa, but there are 21 species and subspecies which are edible. Citrus includes oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruits, tangerines, and now grown throughout the world. Pineapple: Produced widely in the tropics and subtropics. Mango: Very tasty fruit, found in tropical areas. Nuts, Seeds, and SpicesSesame: An ancient oil seed plant originally from Africa. Highly nutritious.
Mung Bean: Has great potential as a food. Makes a nutritious and versatile treat. Peanut: Grown widely in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions of the world. Important as a source of protein and oils. Not a "nut," but a bean. Coffee: Coffee is made from the seed or "bean" of this small tree or shrub. Cashews: Originally from Tropical America, a valuable nut and vitamin rich fruit from the tree. Chocolate/Cocoa: Chocolate and cocoa are made from the dried, ground seeds or "beans" of this small tree. Grown throughout the West African tropics. Cinnamon: Bark of a small tree. Fish ProteinThe bustling underwater world of the Congo River is home to at least 686 species of fish, 80% of which are found nowhere else in the world.
Elephant fishes: In the Mormyridae family, fish are slightly electrified, with an electric organ in their tail that they use to move around and communicate. They are primarily active at night. Lungfishes: African lungfishes family are air-breathing. They can live in no oxygen or low supply of oxygen water. This allows them to survive dry periods, during which they burrow in a mud hole. Bichirs: Really large specimens can reach about 1.2 m in length, but most species are below 30 cm. Killifishes: They feed on insect larvae, such as mosquitoes, and may be important for disease control. Fish don’t just swim anywhere in the rivers of the Congo River Basin. In fact, most of them are picky and will only live in particular areas. These include: Channels, creeks and oxbows, with shaded calm pools, little current, sand or mud bottoms rich in vegetable debris; Floating meadows, along banks; and Inundation zones. Fish are particularly fond of the shallow waters along riverbanks and islands, where the slower current and clearer water favor the availability of food. |
Finding A Fresh Source Of Water
The most effective way to remove both viruses and bacteria from water is simply to boil it. Bring it to a roiling boil and keep it there for 60 seconds or so and you've got safe drinking water. A metal canteen, pot or cup is the easiest way to achieve this, but in a pinch you can boil water in plastic, bark or even paper so long as you're VERY CAREFUL and make sure the container stays completely full. Clear flowing water coming from somewhere without people, manmade things or obvious signs of pollution is best. If you come across a spring or stream while outdoors, take advantage of it and top off your water bottles. Lakes, ponds and rivers are less ideal. The first two are stagnant, which may mean increased levels of bacteria and other gross things, while large rivers are typically full of pollution. Be especially wary after any flooding or if the river flows from or through a population center, under a road or around any construction, chemical plants or similar on its way to you. You can also filter water from mud or dig for it in dry river beds or other low lying areas.
How to prepare food
Cook large meat pieces over a spit or boil them. You can stew or boil smaller pieces, particularly those that remain attached to bone after the initial butchering, as soup or broth. You can cook body organs such as the heart, liver, pancreas, spleen, and kidneys using the same methods as for muscle meat. You can also cook and eat the brain. Cut the tongue out, skin it, boil it until tender, and eat it. Smoking Meat: To smoke meat, prepare an enclosure around a fire. Two ponchos snapped together will work. The fire does not need to be big or hot. The intent is to produce smoke, not heat. Do not use resinous wood in the fire because its smoke will ruin the meat. Use hardwoods to produce good smoke. The wood should be somewhat green. If it is too dry, soak it. Cut the meat into thin slices, no more than 6 centimeters thick, and drape them over a framework. Make sure none of the meat touches another piece. Keep the poncho enclosure around the meat to hold the smoke and keep a close watch on the fire. Do not let the fire get too hot. Meat smoked overnight in this manner will last about 1 week. Two days of continuous smoking will preserve the meat for 2 to 4 weeks. Properly smoked meat will look like a dark, curled, brittle stick and you can eat it without further cooking. You can also use a pit to smoke meat (Figure 8-28). Drying Meat: To preserve meat by drying, cut it into 6-millimeter strips with the grain. Hang the meat strips on a rack in a sunny location with good air flow. Keep the strips out of the reach of animals and cover them to keep blowflies off. Allow the meat to dry thoroughly before eating. Properly dried meat will have a dry, crisp texture. |
Preparing Plants for Food
Methods used to improve the taste of plant food include soaking, boiling, cooking or leaching. Leaching is done by crushing the food (for example, acorns), placing it in a strainer and pouring boiling water through it or immersing it in running water. Boil leaves, stems and buds until tender, changing the water, if necessary, to remove any bitterness. Boil, bake or roast tubers and roots. Drying helps to remove caustic oxalates from some roots like those in the Arum family. Leach acorns in water, if necessary, to remove the bitterness. Some nuts, such as chestnuts, are good raw but taste better roasted. You can eat many grains and seeds raw until they mature. When hard or dry, you may have to boil or grind them into meal or flour. The sap from many trees, such as maples, birches, walnuts and sycamores, contains sugar. You may boil these saps down to a syrup for sweetening. It takes about 35 liters of maple sap to make one liter of maple syrupy
Methods used to improve the taste of plant food include soaking, boiling, cooking or leaching. Leaching is done by crushing the food (for example, acorns), placing it in a strainer and pouring boiling water through it or immersing it in running water. Boil leaves, stems and buds until tender, changing the water, if necessary, to remove any bitterness. Boil, bake or roast tubers and roots. Drying helps to remove caustic oxalates from some roots like those in the Arum family. Leach acorns in water, if necessary, to remove the bitterness. Some nuts, such as chestnuts, are good raw but taste better roasted. You can eat many grains and seeds raw until they mature. When hard or dry, you may have to boil or grind them into meal or flour. The sap from many trees, such as maples, birches, walnuts and sycamores, contains sugar. You may boil these saps down to a syrup for sweetening. It takes about 35 liters of maple sap to make one liter of maple syrupy