Side effects and dangers of strawberry tree fruits
What are strawberry tree leaves and fruits and what are they used for?
The strawberry tree fruit is the edible fruit of a Mediterranean shrub (Arbutus unedo) of the Ericaceae family and is related to the bearberry (Arbutus uva-ursi).
The fruits and leaves of the plant are used in herbal medicine for their diuretic and antiseptic properties, to increase urine production and help eliminate germs that cause urinary tract infections.
What are the dangers of eating strawberry trees, or take their leaves as an infusion?
Strawberry tree fruits are edible and do not present any toxic hazards, although they do have certain contraindications in certain cases.
The leaves are rich in arbutin, which breaks down into hydroquinone, a substance that, in prolonged treatments, can be toxic to the liver. Hydroquinone is eliminated in urine, where it exerts its urinary antiseptic effect.
Treatments with strawberry tree fruit are safe in the established quantities, although it should not be administered to people with liver disease.
Do strawberry tree fruits get you drunk?
Strawberry tree fruits are known in Spanish by the names: madroños or, for example borrachines. The name “borrachines” (drunkards) is due to the myth that eating a large quantity of these fruits causes drunkenness because, when they ripen, the sugars in the fruit ferment and theoretically they may contain a little alcohol.
For this reason, it is said that ingesting a large amount of strawberry tree fruits can produce symptoms of alcohol poisoning (“getting drunk” effect), although this seems to be more of a popular saying than a confirmed theory.
Strawberry tree fruit for stomach pain
As ancient texts describe, the fruits can be indigestible due to their high tannin content, although this decreases with the ripening point of the fruit and disappears almost completely if they are cooked.
Photo of strawberry tree loaded with fruit
More information on strawbewrry tree
