Nardoo Fern Can Destroy Thiamine

Eating the Australian aquatic fern nardoo without preparing it correctly can make a person starve even while consuming enough nutritious food. Nardoo contains large quantities of thiaminase, an enzyme that destroys thiamine, or vitamin B1, which the body needs to release energy from food. During their 1861 expedition, British explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills grew weaker despite eating up to 4 or 5 pounds of nardoo between them daily. Aboriginal Australians made the plant safe by roasting its spore cases before grinding them, as heat destroys the thiaminase.

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