Are Rhubarb Leaves Poisonous? (2024)

FAQs

Are Rhubarb Leaves Poisonous? ›

Are rhubarb leaves poisonous? Rhubarb leaves contain a couple of different chemicals which are unfortunately toxic to both humans and animals. While you'd have to eat quite a few to become ill, it's still best to steer clear of them.

Symptoms of mild rhubarb leaf poisoning include vomiting and diarrhea that resolve within a few hours. More serious oxalate toxicity causes sore throat, difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting (sometimes including blood), diarrhea, and abdominal pain ( 3 ).

Typically, you would only eat the stalk of a rhubarb plant, which is safe to eat both raw and uncooked, according to Richter. The stalk contains no poisons, and you will normally not get sick eating it, though you'll likely want to sweeten or cook the stalk before eating it to make it more palatable.

Not only do those huge rhubarb leaves work well for compost and organic pesticide, but they are also a great weed killer.

Its stalks are deeper red and tinged with green, while its leaves are bright green. It has a more intense flavour and robust texture than the forced variety. Although it can be eaten raw, rhubarb tends to be too tart this way, and it's usually best when cooked with plenty of sugar.

After freezing temperatures, some gardeners express concerns about the edibility of rhubarb. Rhubarb is a tough plant. Temperatures in the upper twenties or low thirties usually cause little or no damage. A hard freeze (temperatures in the mid-twenties or lower) is usually required to cause serious damage.

Rhubarb is high in calcium oxalate. While the substance is mainly in the leaves, it's also found in the stalks. Too much calcium oxalate in your diet may lead to hyperoxaluria, which is the buildup of oxalate crystals in different organs.

Rhubarb is a type of laxative called a stimulant laxative. Stimulant laxatives can cause diarrhea and decrease potassium levels. Some medications for inflammation, called corticosteroids, can also decrease potassium levels.

Eating foods rich in oxalic acid can leave a sticky coating on your teeth which can make them feel fuzzy or furry. Foods with high oxalic acid content include leafy greens such as kale or spinach, as well as beetroot, sweet potato and rhubarb.

A light frost will not harm rhubarb. However, if temperatures were cold enough to cause the rhubarb leaves to wilt or become limp then damage has been done. The leaves should be removed and discarded. Any new leaves that appear and are normal can be eaten.

Does rhubarb repel pests? ›

One way to manage pest insects is to create habitat in your garden for beneficial insects such as ladybugs. Oxalic acid in the leaf blades (not petioles) of rhubarb can help repel flea beetles.

No more than a third of the plant should be harvested, as it needs to have enough energy to come back! It's better to harvest a few stalks each from multiple plants than to take too many from one.

Toxicity to pets. Rhubarb is a common plant grown for edible consumption, and is also known as the pie plant. The leaves contain soluble oxalate crystals, with less of the crystals being prevalent in the stalk. That's why rhubarb stems are edible, but the leaves are not.

Our present study reveals that rhubarb highlights promising neuroprotective effect. Thus, the formulation may be a potential preventive or therapeutic candidate for the treatment of chronic inflammation and arthritis.

Rhubarb is also a great source of vitamin K₁, which is important for blood clotting and bone health. A half cup of cooked rhubarb provides more than one-third of the recommended dietary intake of vitamin K₁, along with two grams of fiber (which helps prevent colorectal cancer), some calcium and vitamin C.

Cut away and discard any tough, woody, or bruised parts of the stalks. Wash the stalks thoroughly and scrub with a vegetable brush. You don't need to peel peak-season rhubarb, but by midsummer, the stalks tend to be tough and fibrous. You might need to peel them to make them tastier.

Side effects might include stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and cramps. Rhubarb leaves are possibly unsafe. Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid, which can cause stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, and death.

While oxalic acid is a normal end product of mammalian metabolism, the consumption of additional oxalic acid may cause stone formation in the urinary tract when the acid is excreted in the urine. Soaking and cooking of foodstuffs high in oxalate will reduce the oxalate content by leaching.

Cooking rhubarb petioles with water, trim or standard milk significantly (p < 0.05) reduced oxalate contents of the mixture by dilution (total oxalate mean raw 902.7 mg/100 g fresh weight, mean cooked 454.3 mg/100 g fresh weight).

Do Deer eat rhubarb? Theoretically, they do not, but reports show that Deer can eat rhubarb when starving. If they eat them in large amounts, it can also kill them. Therefore, if you wish to use rhubarb to keep Deer out of your gardens, make sure you also add other deterrent measures alongside.