Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Eating Cycads

 ... can require a tremendous amount of effort.  They contain toxins -- some species and parts more than others, according to some other sources I've seen.  Since cycads are very well adapted to conditions that will expand along with climate change, knowing how to eat them could make the difference in survival.  Again.
Tags: ethnic studies, food, history, nature, networking
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  • 2 comments
rhodielady_47

rhodielady_47

February 27 2020, 11:21:26 UTC 1 year ago

Cycads sound like a plant that might benefit from the genetic engineers removing or at least lessening the poisons found in this plant.
:^|
ysabetwordsmith

Well ...

ysabetwordsmith

February 27 2020, 11:33:32 UTC 1 year ago

As a gengineer I would first ask what those toxins do, and how well the plants could survive without them. Most plants develop toxins to fend off herbivores, but sometimes the toxicity is an accident and it actually allows the plant to adapt to its environment.

Then too, I would consider the nutrients in the plant. Humans have damn near ruined a lot of food by breeding out the "disagreeable" flavors and with those most of the nutritive value. I will allow that farmers have improved the hell out of corn and watermelon, but commercial tomatoes are pathetic. >_<

On the third hoof, all that space to work in would be lovely -- to have a big trunk to fill with edible pulp. In that regard if one could gengineer it to be food, it would be very promising.

But on the fourth hoof, how does one replicate the food-cycad without allowing it to cross with the related wild-cycad? You can't count on a lab in a survival situation. You would have to make it bloom differently or something like that. This is not easy. And the devil-may-care attitude of extant gengineers has contaminated much of the food supply. *fume*