Hollywood star Alicia Silverstone has assured fans that she is “alive and well” after sharing a video of herself appearing to eat a poisonous fruit in England.
The US actress, best known for her role as Cher in the 1995 film “Clueless,” shared the clip on her Instagram account on Monday.
In the video, she bites into a small orange fruit that looks like a cherry tomato before asking her followers what it is.
Social media users began to speculate that the fruit was Solanum pseudocapsicum, commonly known as Jerusalem cherry.
The fruit is slightly poisonous and the Royal Horticultural Society warns that it is “harmful if consumed”.
Image: Instagram/aliciasilverstone
In the video, the 47-year-old is standing on the street. The plant can be seen on the other side of a fence.
In her video she says: “Okay, I discovered something I don’t know what it is and I need your help.
“I just bit into it because I was on the street and we were discussing whether it was a tomato or not.
“It definitely isn’t, because look at these leaves.”
Then she showed the leaves and asked, “What the hell is that?”
Image: Instagram/aliciasilverstone
Then the actress took another bite of the plant and showed the inside with seeds that were larger than those you would find inside a tomato of that size.
“I don’t think it’s safe to eat. It tastes almost like peppers. Does anyone know what it is? I’m in England,” she said.
Concerned social media users responded and warned her not to eat the fruit.
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Alicia Silverstone as Cher in Clueless. Image: Reuters
One wrote: “It’s poisonous. Don’t eat it.”
Another added: “DO NOT EAT wild berries or mushrooms or any other ‘weird stuff’. I want you to be safe and healthy!”
A third wrote: “That’s a Jerusalem artichoke. Don’t eat it!”
In a follow-up post on Tuesday, Silverstone wrote: “Alive and well! Don’t worry… I didn’t swallow.”
The Horticultural Trades Association’s 2022 guide to potentially harmful plants lists Jerusalem artichoke as harmful when consumed by humans or animals.
In the years following her role in Clueless, Silverstone appeared in Batman and Robin (1997) and Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004).
