A quick Web search indicates that the situation may be that the ripe
berries are edible if cooked, but that the unripe or raw berries
are poisonous. And I saw a reiteration of the use as a vegetable,
but I also saw other statements that all parts are poisonous.

Frankly, I don't trust any of it. Some of it HAS to be wrong, and
I have no idea which sources are just copying from each other. My
guess is that the New Zealand claims of edibility are correct, but
I am less certain that they refer to S. nigrum, or that the Maoris
really did eat the shoots and leaves. And a lot of the claims of
universal toxicity are in documents that look like typical UK/USA
hysteria - and, yes, our supposed 'experts' are among the worst
perpetrators of THAT (and I don't JUST mean RoSPA!)

I keep meaning to try fat hen seeds and acorns, have made mallow soup,
have tried blackberry shoots to see whether a remark in a novel was
correct (it wasn't) and so on, but the Solanaceae make me nervous.
I know that several other posters hold similar views :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679