Balsam: Which plant parts are edible?

Content

• Balsam: Which plant parts are edible?
• Flowers and seeds are edible
• The sweet flowers as an edible decoration
• The nutty seeds as a snack
• Leaves - little tasty
• Tips

The flowers and seeds of balsam are edible and delicious

Balsam: Which plant parts are edible?

Especially the Indian balsam is known and is feared by many gardeners as a weed. What would it be like to eat your fill of this herb? Is it even edible?

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Flowers and seeds are edible

The pink flowers and the small strange-looking seeds of Impatiens are edible. This applies to all types. Unlike them, you should not consume the leaves and stems in the raw state. Cooked is something else ...

The sweet flowers as an edible decoration

The flowers are present from July. Until October or the first frost new flowers can form. Thus, the period from July to October is the collection time for these.

The flowers can be eaten raw. They taste sweet by their high nectar content. Whether as an edible decoration for food, in salads or for preparing a flower jelly - the uses are numerous.

The nutty seeds as a snack

The seeds of balsam are harvested in autumn. Their taste is slightly nutty. It is reminiscent of fresh walnuts. If you have a lot of time, you can harvest many seeds and use them, for example, as a flour substitute for gluten-free dishes. The seeds are excellent for the following foods:

Both the ripe seeds and the immature (white colored) seeds are raw edible. Even in roasted form they taste delicious. In this form, they are good for muesli or to nibble in between.

Leaves - little tasty

While the fresh leaves are slightly poisonous and can cause nausea, the leaves are edible in the cooked state. They can be prepared, for example, like spinach. But culinary you can gain little because of the contained bitter substances and acids.

Thus, the leaves should rather be regarded as 'emergency food'. Too bad, because otherwise you would have a good reason to harvest the balsam, which would make the fight easier.

Tips

For example, poisoning by eating too many raw leaves of balsam can cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The body tries to get rid of the contained toxins.