table of contents
- Toxicity
- Walnut tree
- Walnuts
Walnut trees impress with their imposing size, which in adult trees can be a good 10 x 10 x 10 meters. The walnut harvest varies from year to year, but in a good year one can Walnut tree carry up to 150 kilograms of nuts. However, these may only be consumed when ripe, because the green nutshell can lead to poisoning.
Toxicity
Walnut tree
The walnut tree, bot. Juglans regia, is between 10 and 25 meters high. Since the trees can live up to 150 years, they can be found in many gardens. The tree is not harmful to humans. However, people with a sensitive stomach should be careful when drinking tea made from walnut leaves, as this can cause nausea and vomiting.
The heartwood of the walnut tree is poisonous to horses. If the animals nibble on it, you can get laminitis. While it is unlikely that horses will nibble on a felled walnut tree, the poison is also in the sawdust. Therefore, you should not let horses graze or graze near a felled walnut tree. make sure that they do not come into contact with the sawdust.
tip: Since the branches of the walnut tree are also poisonous for horses, they should not be offered to the animals to nibble.
Walnuts
the walnut is the fruit of the walnut tree. The well-known walnuts are the kernels of the fruit. They are surrounded by a green shell that turns brown as it ripens and cracks, so that the walnuts fall out. As long as the shell is smooth and green, the walnut is not yet ripe and not suitable for consumption. However, the unripe nuts and their shells are used to prepare walnut liqueurs.
If the green, unripe fruits of the walnut tree are eaten, diarrhea or gastrointestinal problems can occur in humans due to the tannic acid they contain. If the inside of the green shell is infected with toxin-producing fungi, toxins form in the shell, which can lead to nerve cramps. Since these mushrooms are imperceptible to the human eye, the green shells of the nuts must not be consumed. Since stored nuts can also be infected by the fungi, you should not eat any nuts that have dark brown to black spots and separate them from the nuts that are still healthy.
Infected shells and nuts are also poisonous to dogs and cats. The symptoms of poisoning include:
- Vomit
- Tremble
- Nerve cramps
tip: The symptoms of intoxication are often mistaken for epileptic seizures. Therefore, if you experience symptoms, you should contact a veterinarian as soon as possible.
But ripe walnuts are also dangerous for dogs. Chewing shells can lead to injuries in the mouth and gastrointestinal tract.
