This is the kind of story that gets me out of bed in the morning. I’ve never even heard of this type of poisoning before. After some serious research, I found that Zane Horowitz and the folks at the Oregon Poison Center reported on a couple of cases back in 2011. Apparently there are steroid-like substances (called “cucurbitacins A-T” with the inexplicable exception of “M”) that impart a very bitter taste to cucumbers, squash, gourds, watermelons, zucchini and loofahs). The amount of cucurbitacins that exist in a single plant varies depending on growth circumstances (commercially produced plants have the cucurbitacins bred out of them). The toxins are heat-stable, meaning they survive cooking. If you are unlucky enough to harvest one with a high concentration of cucurbitacin and you eat it despite its bitter taste, you develop severe diarrhea within a couple of hours. don’t ask me why these things cause severe GI disturbance – I have no idea. According to the clinical toxicologist that made the diagnosis (Dr. Wu Ming-ling) the secret to the diagnosis is the bitter taste of the involved plant. I’m going to try to find Dr. Wu Ming-ling and get him for a future podcast! Hopefully he can shed some light on this story.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2016/01/04/2003636402
Here is a link to an earlier report (from 1983) describing a death from cucurbitacins in Australia:
http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cgc/cgc06/cgc6-37.html
And the poster report from Oregon:
http://www.ohsu.edu/emergency/news/2012/nacct/posters/squash.pdf
Think this guy is gonna have diarrhea?
