Milkweed

[MauroIII]

I have read that wine can be made from most plants as long as a starch is present; my question then involves could I make a wine from this plant?

Asclepias californica or california milkweed.

Native americans used a cooked form from the leaves for a sort of candy and it is high in alkaloids.

My question then being, could it be used in a wine?

 

[docanddeb]

Have you tried a Google search? Or Jack Keller's site?

Debbie

 

[Eyeguy]

milkweed?

I am a newbie to wine making but I can field a question on "milkweed". The "juice" inside the milkweed is quite basic. It can actually be used to treat warts due to its alkaline nature. If I remember right from my plant biology classes; milkweed (like many plants we actually eat) does have some toxic properties to it. My concern would be if you process this plant and condense it down how much toxic byproduct would be there. Often boilling destroys these chemicals in plants but it could also release more of them. I would be careful and do some good research on milkweed first...it is a very interesting plant.
Also milkweed has some natural "gel" like characteristics...I wonder if condensing it would lead to a "stringy" "thick/slimmy" feel to the wine.

 

[robie]

Just be careful. Like Debbie said, check around, especially Jack Keller's site.

 

[Torch404]

http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=WF0539

Slightly toxic, the traditional use most likely used very little of the substance. Milkweed is generally no good in large amounts and a skin irritant in low amounts.