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Re: reed cane

Author: SunnyDaze
Date: 2022-11-23 00:40

The ones they sell in the woodwind shop here are dry, flat and sort of beige I think, so I'm not quite sure what has happened to them. Maybe they are surface sterilised and dried or something?

I suppose my main worry would be poisoning as the stuff from the rush must go in the player's mouth.

I looked online and this page:
https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/cmis_proxy/https/ecm.nrcs.usda.gov%3A443/fncmis/resources/WEBP/ContentStream/idd_00C7556A-0000-C15C-94A1-5D4EB7E97D69/0/ILGM-SPECIES-NI_Horsetails-ScouringRushes.pdf

It says the plant is poisonous to farm animals but doesn't say about people.

It says that horsetail has "thiaminase activity". Thiaminase is an enzyme that destroys thiamine (vitamin B1). So if someone *ate* horsetail every day for a few weeks they would get the symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency.

I only know that because sardines also have thiaminase in them, and a few years ago I got in the habit of eating sardines every day and developed B1 deficiency symptoms myself.

Presumably if we don't actually eat the horsetail but just rub it on the reed then that is not such a problem. I'd want it to be a pretty clean, sterile horsetail though, and not too froggy or covered in algae. The document also doesn't say about other possible concerns around human ingestion.

I'd be interested to know if anyone on the forum has knowledge of how the commercially produced dutch rush is processed for actual safety.

Adult learner, Grade 3
Equipment: Yamaha Custom CX Bb, Fobes 10K CF mp,
Legere Soprano Sax American Cut #2, Vandoren Optimum German Lig.

Post Edited (2022-11-23 00:41)

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