Poke berry flesh isn't toxic but the seeds inside the berries are. People usually don't have bad side effects from swallowing a berry, but all parts of poke plant should be considered toxic, esp. leaves stems and roots. I've heard of pokeberry jam, never made it or seen it around though...but seeds are always strained out and never crushed. There is an old folk remedy for rheumatic complaints that uses poke berries, it goes like this:
When the berries are ripe, begin regimen:
Day one, swallow one berry whole. (This prevents the accidental tooth crushing of seeds)
Day two, swallow two berries whole.
Day three, swallow three berries whole.
Day four, swallow four berries whole.
Continue in this manner up to day nine with nine berries, and on day ten begin decreasing by one berry a day, so,
Day ten, swallow 8 berries whole
Day eleven, swallow 7 berries whole
...Continue until you get down to zero berries and that's it. I've heard tell that rheumatic complaints will disappear for a long time following this.
Never tried it, this is just as how it has been handed down to me from folk herbalists with decades of experience.
You can make poke berry water by putting a little cluster of berries in a glass jar of water in a sunny window and let steep until the water turns pink, drink a scant 1/4 c 1-2 times a day to clear out a cold or something that has been "poking" around in your system for awhile. I have tried that, works nice.
Greens are edible in spring but only when shorter than 8" high, if red starting to show despite under 8" the toxins are too high. After collecting spring greens they must be boiled in three separate changes of clean water before sauteing....delicious sauteed with some bacon fat. In the south some towns will have poke greens festivals in the spring.
Root is a powerful lymphatic, drying removes some bit of the caustic nature, should only be administered by a qualified practitioner in small doses.
-HerbWiseWife
Last edited by HerbWise; 10/20/12 09:42 AM.
