Are pokeweed berries edible or not?

Question

I have heard lots of conflicting reports about this. I know they're poisonous, but some sources say that you can eat the berries after boiling them in water. And one woman said that it's the seeds that are poisonous, so that if you remove them you can eat the fruit. She said she'd been making pies out of them for years. I don't know if any of this is true, so I've just avoided the berries, but I'm really curious.

Answer 1

do NOT eat the berries at all.

pokesalad (the young shoots) are poisonous when raw but good steamed much like spinach.

Answer 2

The following parts of pokeweed, Phytolacca americana are really poisonous: the roots; shoots, leaves, and berries when fresh and in quantity.

You find publications, that young leaves are edible if boiled three times, or young ( green!!! ), peeled shoots less than eight inches parboiled in two changes of water several minutes each, than in a third water until tender and serve like asparagus, but I would prefer the real asparagus instead of doubting about getting ill or not.

Symptoms:

Burning of mouth and throat, salivation, severe stomach irritation, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, spasms, convulsions; can be fatal.

The toxic substance in the plant is a triterpene saponin called phytolaccigenin, which causes hemagglutination. Heat denaturates it.

This site includes an interesting rating of the pokeweed:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/576/

Here you find a lot of links to medical use, toxicity of pokeberries etc:

http://www.gaiaherbs.com/herbs.php?BaseD...