There is no authoritative department to confirm whether it causes cancer. There are only some Internet rumors saying that the body of Geranium purpurea contains a toxic alkaloid. Its scientific name is pyrrolizidine. This alkaloid has certain liver effects.

Toxic, long-term consumption can lead to liver cirrhosis.

In fact, I don’t think there is much scientific basis for this. Otherwise, the country would have banned people from eating it. Would it still be allowed to be sold in major markets and cultivated in large areas?

Purple-backed geranium is a traditional wild vegetable in my country. It is mainly distributed in the southern region of my country. Because the back of its leaves is purple-red, it is called purple-backed geranium. Because of its wide distribution, its alias is also more popular. There are many, some call it red cabbage, others call it red cabbage, fungus, or red phoenix, but I found that the most commonly called blood cabbage is blood cabbage.

Due to its unique flavor and delicious taste, with the increase in demand and sales in recent years, large-scale cultivation has begun in many places.

Purple-backed geranium likes a cool climate. Wild violet-backed geranium mainly grows in hillside forests, rocks or moist places by rivers. Because of its high requirements for water and humidity, it is currently mainly distributed in the southern region of my country. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to taste this dish in Sichuan. It was stir-fried with sesame oil and turned red. It was particularly eye-catching. It was smooth and refreshing in the mouth and had a unique taste. It had the taste of lettuce and the unique fragrance of Asteraceae plants.

This is a popular vegetable, but some people describe it as a highly toxic vegetable that causes cancer!

In fact, what I want to say is that if you don’t talk about the dosage and only talk about the ingredients to draw conclusions, everything is nonsense and unreliable behavior!

Geranium purpurea is a plant belonging to the genus Senecio. According to data, Senecio plants have a unique property, that is, they generally contain a certain amount of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in the body, and this alkaloid has certain

It is hepatotoxic and may cause cirrhosis or even cancer if consumed in large amounts.

However, the content of Geranium purpurea in the body is relatively low, and normal consumption is not enough to cause harm to human health. In addition, Geranium purpureus cooked at high temperature can basically remove most of the soluble alkaloids.

Just like the Toon sprouts that are now on the market in our rural areas, although they contain a certain amount of nitrates and nitrites, which are harmful to the human body, the content is very low. If eaten normally and cooked properly, it will not have an impact on the human body.

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The last thing I want to say is that the formation of cancer is caused by many factors. Although carcinogenic vegetables are scary, as long as we eat and cook them normally, there is no need to panic. If they were really harmful, they would have been banned long ago, and they could still be allowed to grow.

Is it cultivated for market circulation?

Therefore, it is unreliable to draw conclusions by only talking about the ingredients without talking about the dosage!

I was in Sichuan for the Chinese New Year in 2017. I brought one back from there and took it to Henan and planted it on my balcony. It lived for a year. However, it was frozen to death by frost when I left it outside in the winter. The weather in the north is not suitable for planting here.

There is no frost in the south, so it can grow as a biennial. In the north, the annual blood peel has a strange taste that most people are not used to eating.

First of all, let me explain to you that the "Purple-backed Geranium" we usually eat is not the real Purple-backed Geranium. In fact, the one we usually eat is called red geranium. They are different varieties and many people confuse them.

Yes, red phoenix is ??called iron-skinned vegetable here, and in some places it is called blood-skinned vegetable, blood-tonifying vegetable, etc.

Geranium is another stemless herbaceous plant of the genus Begonia. Look at the first picture, that is the real Geranium. It is not a wild vegetable. It is actually a kind of Chinese herbal medicine, because everyone is familiar with Geranium.

I’m not very familiar with it, and I don’t see it often, so I mistakenly call it red phoenix. Judging from the appearance of red phoenix, its leaves are purple on the back and green on the front, so people mistakenly call it purple geranium.

It's quite normal.

Red phoenix is ??relatively common in our rural areas and is also sold in the market. There are a lot of red phoenix grown in the vegetable field next to my house. We usually use pork liver and red phoenix to make soup. It is said to have the effect of replenishing blood.

There are many delicious ways to cook red phoenix, it can also be stir-fried, boiled in soup, or served cold.

It is one of the common wild vegetables on our tables here.

So why do many people say this dish is carcinogenic?

It is said that red cabbage contains a toxic substance called pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which has a certain degree of hepatotoxicity. Eating too much can cause damage to the liver and lead to liver cancer. In fact, the effect here is a bit exaggerated. What we usually eat

Many foods contain toxic substances such as pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are not only found in red cabbage. Moreover, relevant experts have said that this alkaloid is not a first-level carcinogen, and red cabbage has been exposed to high-temperature water.

Boiling will destroy this alkaloid, but it is okay as long as we don’t eat too much.

In fact, cancer is caused by a combination of factors. No food is said to be absolutely safe. Some wild vegetables do contain certain toxicity, but the content is relatively small. With our reasonable cooking, it is not so easy to cause cancer.