I’m trying to resolve an argument.

EDIT: Yes, you can. But you can’t digest it. The only edible parts of a tree are some specific types of tree bark. Thanks, everyone!

  • PotjiePig@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I should think you can, depending on the wood, many can be toxic.

    The bark of a Willow tree is used to make Aspirin, we smoke paper and eat many plants with less woody stems. There are certain other barks and cambium (the soft layer between the bark and the wood) that contain nutrients, such as birch, pine, elm and a few others that have been eaten by our ancestors for centuries and even have medicinal properties. We also grate cinnamon and a few others as spice. Dog food is often bulked up with ash.

    The real issue is that the hard cellulose in the actual wood part is not particularly digestible and basically pure fibre and devoid of any real nutrient value. So it would need to be boiled or blended first I imagine, or steeped as a tea. It would be revolting or taste like nothing and probably give you constipation but I doubt you would die.

    As a raw bite of a chunk of wood, no. It would be considered inedible.

  • JoelJ@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Wood is mostly cellulose and lignin, which holds no nutritional value to us humans. Another comment said that termites have certain enzymes which digest it, but it’s actually the bacteria in their guts which break down the woody fibres so they can turn it into glucose. So, theoretically, maybe we could isolate those bacteria and somehow incorporate them into our guts too? I mean it probably wouldn’t work, but you never know until you try right?

      • spittingimage@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s a question for an anteater. Of course, it may need to ingest something with the power of speech before it can say.

    • Kyoyeou (Ki jəʊ juː)@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So there is a future, where us humain, go to the restaurant and open the Wood card, and a waiter specialized in wood (certainly french too) will go, Hello, Monsieur, Madame, have you chozen your wood for tonight And our grand kids will respond: “Yes, We will take the Cypress of Bordeaux” And this wonderful french waiter will respond "Very Good Choice with a Fish Sir, It creates a wonderfool Surf and Turf taste

    • Piecemakers@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      That’s interesting in that it’s the termites’ gut flora that break down the woody content they ingest, considering that a mycelial presence is required to convert grassland to forest as the bacteria present in soil are unable to process the dendritic xylem in order for reuse in the substrate. Do you know if these termite bacteria are viable alternatives to fungal synthesis in reforestation projects?

  • BlueLineBae@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Depends on the wood. Some wood we use for spices like cinnamon so you’ve probably already eaten that. But other types of wood are considered toxic not only to consume, but to the plants around it. Take what I say with a grain of salt as I’m certainly no expert on the matter.

    • 857@fedia.io
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      1 year ago

      Hemlock comes to mind, as with or without your proffered grain of salt, it can be eaten but is definitely not edible. Those defs are posted in a non-pedantic way above, incidentally.

      Also, thanks for the chance to use the word ‘proffered’ in conversation, it’s vanishingly rarely used outside the legal field.

  • Laticauda@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    You can ingest it, but you can’t digest it and it won’t provide much if any nutrition. It’ll probably make you constipated though.

  • Deestan@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Wood has no nutritional value to humans, but a few things come close:

    The center of banana tree trunks are cooked and eaten, and a common parts of some asian dishes, but they aren’t really “wood”.

    The inner part of tree bark is digestible by humans, but it is not classified as “wood” either.

  • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Saw dust have been mixed with flour multiple time in history during famine period. However it was mostly done to increase profit, not for its nutritional value and multiple bakers have been killed by angry mob because of that.

  • cygnosis@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Does bamboo count? It’s a common wood flooring and cutting board option. Lots of furniture is made from it. It’s used like wood, even though it doesn’t grow quite the same as a normal tree. And people have been eating bamboo shoots for a long time.