We all know that plants have been given scientific names apart from their common names. Many a times we ask for the purpose of scientific names. The most common one is that all the scientific names are unique same as our email ids. But do we know that these scientific names can also save our life. How? Sometimes common names sound similar and this can cause a lot of confusion while food preparation, but if we use the scientific names, there won’t be any sort of confusion. Ex: Fat Hen & Henbane sounds similar, but their level of toxicity is very different.

Parts of Plant Matters

Here comes another problem. Even if you begin to use scientific names, parts of plant matters as well. Some parts of the plant are edible, while other parts of same plant may be harmful to us. For example, the leaf extracts of the Ginko tree or Ginko biloba is used for making tea. These leaf extracts are supposed to help the mental faculties, but those are chemically altered. But, by any chance if you directly use the straight leaf, it actually will cause neurological damage quite quickly.

Another example is humdrum potato. The Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System has confirmed that the entire potato plant, from the edible tuber to the top leaves, has toxic glycoalkaloids lurking in it. The tuberous part of the potato is usually safe and less toxic than the green parts. But toxins can concentrate in the tuber if it is exposed to sunlight and starts photosynthesis. So, it is always recommended not to use green potatoes.
Other green dangers is found in the leaves of the tomato plant, the leaves of the avocado plant, the leaves of horse radish and the green parts of the tasty rhubarb. Use of large amounts of raw or cooked leaves of rhubarb can cause convulsions, coma, followed rapidly by death.

So, not only specific plants, but edible parts of plant can also be fatal for us if we don’t use them properly. No one wants to be sick or be in a serious health condition, so to avoid the critical situation, let’s not be ignorant about what we are eating.

image courtesy: http://abcnews.go.com