The sweetgum tree has both medicinal and nutritional applications. The seeds, sap, and leaf buds are all edible, with the seeds containing the most calories and protein. Because these trees are so plentiful in both rural and suburban areas, it is amazing that more people aren’t aware of their uses. For instance, to get to the seeds, break apart a large seed pod that is ripe and rub the individual seeds in-between the fingers to winnow them from their outer shells. These seeds are wonderful raw or can be ground down into a powder for use as flour. If eaten after a meal, the seeds from green pods aid in digestion. The sap, for which the tree is best known, can be collected from the cambium and dried for use a substitute for chewing gum which will actually freshen the breath. In fact, sweetgum resin was used to flavor chewing gums up into the 1920s. Finally, young leaf buds can be eaten raw as a tasty nibble.
The sweetgum has many medicinal qualities as well. For instance, the bark, leaves, and infertile seeds of the sweetgum contain a chemical called shikimic acid, which is the primary ingredient in Tamiflu, a flu medicine. The difference between fertile and infertile sweetgum seeds is that fertile sees are black with wings on either side and infertile seeds are yellow and wingless. Shikimic acid works against the flu virus because it inhibits the protein that allows viruses to break out of infected cells. In this way, the virus is unable to reproduce which both shortens the duration of the infection and shortens/lessens the symptoms of the infection, which are often deadlier than the virus itself. To make use of this, green sweetgum fruits need to be crushed and then soaked in alcohol to make a tincture. Tea and/or alcohol extracts like the one mentioned have traditionally been flu treatments in several different cultures. Furthermore, the leaves of the plant can be mashed or crushed into a poultice for use as an antibiotic or relief for insect bites and stings. The leaves can also be chewed into a poultice instead of being crushed for direct application to wounds, burns, and bites.
So remember, try and eat one wild food every day!