Diarrhea, cramps, nausea Woman eats garden courgette and ends up in hospital with poisoning

A courgette from her friend's garden ends up in hospital for a German woman. The vegetable leaves - literally - a bitter aftertaste.

A supposedly harmless vegetable dish leads to a hospital stay for Helga Knoche-Harries (67). As reported by "Bild", the senior citizen from Stolzenau in Lower Saxony, Germany, suffers severe intestinal inflammation, accompanied by bloody diarrhea, cramps, nausea and headaches.

The reason for the severe inflammation was a zucchini from her friend's garden, or more precisely the poisonous bitter substance cucurbitacin, which is contained in the zucchini.

Knoche-Harries notices the bitter taste, but thinks that bitter substances are healthy and tries to soften the taste with banana and sugar. Only later does she learn that bitter courgettes can be poisonous and disposes of the vegetables.

Moderately severe poisoning

But the symptoms were not long in coming and she had to be admitted to hospital. She is treated there for two days.

Markus Bauer, head of gastroenterology, explained to Bild that Knoche-Harries was lucky to have only eaten a small amount of the poisonous courgette. This meant that she only suffered moderate poisoning.

Courgettes normally contain harmless amounts of cucurbitacin. However, cross-pollination, for example with ornamental pumpkins, can make courgettes dangerous.

The doctor advises to always use fresh seeds when growing courgettes yourself and to dispose of bitter-tasting courgettes immediately. Knoche-Harries, who is now back at home, says: "I don't need an experience like that again any time soon."