Alicia Silverstone shows viewers a fruit that resembles an orange cherry tomato and asks for help to identify what it is. Photo: Screengrab from Alicia Silverstone/TikTok
American actress Alicia Silverstone sparked a flurry of shock and concern from netizens after she posted a video on TikTok of herself biting into what appeared to be a poisonous Jerusalem cherry.
The star of movie Clueless, the 1995 teenage cult classic, was in England when she chanced upon the fruit growing on a shrub on the street, according to her TikTok video posted on Aug 20.
In the video, Silverstone shows viewers the fruit – which resembles an orange cherry tomato and has seeds like those of a pepper – and asks for help to identify what it is.
She adds that she had taken a bite of the fruit as she was curious whether it was a tomato, since its leaves looked different from those of a typical tomato plant.
Silverstone then confirms that the fruit is not a tomato as she takes another bite on camera and says: “I don’t think you’re supposed to eat this...it’s almost like a pepper? Does anyone know what this is?”
Netizens in her comment section were quick to point out that the fruit was most likely a Jerusalem cherry.
Solanocapsine, the toxin found throughout the entire Jerusalem cherry plant, primarily affects the gastrointestinal and central nervous system once ingested.
Associate Professor Rachel Meyer of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, told American magazine Entertainment Weekly that the plant is “mildly poisonous” and that eating a few of its fruits may cause vomiting at worst.
According to US government website Medline Plus, symptoms of the poisoning include stomach pain, diarrhoea, paralysis, nausea, and loss of sensation, among others.
Hundreds of flustered fans wondering if Silverstone was affected by the toxin soon flooded her comment section.
The video has amassed 5.2 million views and 16, 719 comments at the time of writing.
On Aug 21, Silverstone posted an update to her TikTok page, assuring fans that she was “alive and well”. She also told people not to worry as she did not swallow the fruit.
Some netizens commented how odd it was that Silverstone would eat something off the streets, especially given that the shrub appeared to be growing behind a fence in someone else’s house.
“Even if it was a tomato, it’s on someone’s private front garden, you can’t just reach through their gate and pick their plants,” one user said.
“Why on earth would you eat something random from a stranger’s garden?” another asked.
Still, many were amused by the situation, with one user saying “she’s clearly clueless...”. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
