Death Star

I love learning new things.

Our Star Fruit tree is heavily laden with ripening fruit; some branches have bent to the ground under the golden weight. I picked a few, then went on the internet to find out what to do with an excess. Bread or smoothies, or maybe something more exotic?

Oops. That's when I became aware of Star Fruit Intoxication! Star Fruit has the highest concentration of Oxalic Acid of any food. It is also considered to be a potent inhibitor of seven cytochrome P450 isoforms, similar to grapefruit, which causes severe interactions with many drugs including statins for the control of cholesterol. Lipitor and Star Fruit can cause death. According to a Brazilian study it also seems to contain a potent neurotoxin. It seems that a single Star Fruit is enough to kill someone with severe renal difficulties.

If that's not enough, Oxalic Acid causes minerals, especially calcium, to precipitate out of solution into insoluble crystals. It is one of the biggest causes of kidney stones.

Anybody want some Star Fruit?