[AllanMcPherson]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anybody out there might know anything about the toxicity of carrot tops. Are they dangerous to eat or just really unpleasent? If they are somewhat toxic are the miniature versions less so?

Thanks in advance,

Al

[canadiangirl]

I hope not. I usually buy the more expensive "bunch" carrots just to give our bunny the greens. No they are not toxic just bitter.

canadingirl

[siduri]

I often put carrot tops in soup, when i find carrots with the tops. I make a nice winter potato, carrot and onion soup. Never made me sick. Not bitter either. sort of like parsley?

[Anneke]

Don't you know? Carrot-Top IS the devil.

[AllanMcPherson]

Anneke,

Well, that's not the first thing I expected to see upon waking up this morning. Note to self: coffee first, then internet.

Thanks for the responses. That's kind of what I expected (and hoped for, since I do use the greens to make a cheep infused oil on occasion!).

--Al

[Luc_H]

Hi Allan,

Carrots are part of the parsley family. (probably KYH knows more).
Nevertheless this link I found could be of interest:
http://www.ohsu.edu/poison/documents...oxicPlants.pdf
In brief: carrot green are considered mildly toxic concerning children.

But this post was interesting:
all about the ferny leaves of carrot s - Harvest Forum - GardenWeb

And this site has tons of info.
The Wild Carrot - Queen Annes Lace
Quote: Extreme caution must be used when collecting wild carrots; they closely resemble poisonous water hemlock (cicuta maculata), poison hemlock (conium maculatum) and fool's parsley (aethusa cynapium), all of which can be deadly. It was poison hemlock, that Socrates was compelled to take. Fortunately, there is a simple way to tell the difference.

That said I think domestic carrot greens are ok (maybe not for children). The fact they are bitter prevents one from putting too much. Should be used like parsley. Be careful when picking wild carrots because wild hemlock is poisonous and their leaves resemble those of carrots.


Luc H

[nowIamone]

This thread brought back memories of being told ever since, way back when, once upon a time; when I was a small, but adorable child, that the carrot tops were poison.

It's one of the things you are told to accept, like "don't slam the door the cake will fall," or "eat your brread crust so your hair gets curly."

I never wanted curly hair, so immediatly set about proving that one as true.

We ate the cake no matter what it looked like, but I always had my suspicions as Mom was a terrible cook.

I never worked up my courage to test the carrot tops, I could never get them to tell me what might happen, so I had a baseline for my test results.