essbare

Essbare is a German adjective form related to essen (to eat) and denotes that something is fit to be eaten. In everyday language it describes substances, plants, fungi or other items that can be consumed without causing harm. The form essbare is used as the feminine singular attributive form before a noun, as in die essbare Pflanze, and without an article it can also appear in plural as essbare Pilze. After a definite article or other determiner, the inflected form changes (die essbaren Pflanzen, eine essbare Pflanze).

Origin and related terms: essbar is the base adjective meaning edible, with essbare being one inflected form. The corresponding noun is Essbarkeit, meaning edibility or the state of being edible. Related German terms include giftig (poisonous) and genießbar (titting or tasty), which describes flavor rather than safety.

Usage: The term is common in botany, foraging, cooking and food labeling. It can qualify wild plants, mushrooms, fruits or prepared foods. It is important to distinguish essbar from genießbar; something can be edible but not particularly tasty. Even items described as essbar should be identified with care in unfamiliar contexts, especially with wild mushrooms or plants, where misidentification can be hazardous.

Examples: essbare Beeren, essbare Kräuter, essbare Pilze. In contrast, giftige Pilze are poisonous and must be avoided.

See also: Essbarkeit, edible plants, foraging safety, mushroom poisoning.