Safe? Maybe. Recommended? No. While canning any diseased fruit is not recommended late blight is especially stressed by many of the extension publications because it is one of the few that also affects the interior of the fruit while still green and raises the pH.

Your choice.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: EX: PennState Ext article

Also, even when they look perfectly fine you often discover the finished product tastes nasty. The blight is in the fruit whether you see it or not and you don't want to do all that work only to discover the final product is disgusting.

Carol

Thanks - I was confused by the NCHFP

"Quality: Select only disease-free, preferably vine-ripened, firm fruit for canning.

Caution: Do not can tomatoes from dead or frost-killed vines. Green tomatoes are more acidic than ripened fruit and can be canned safely with any of the following recommendations."

Made it seem like green tomatoes could be safely canned if acidified, even if vines were dead (or diseased?). Though of course I wouldn't use diseased fruit.

I knew I could count on you two to clarify!

Now, maybe some of them will ripen (?) - we'd have to see how they taste. DH was the one suggesting salsa - should we even try making some fresh green salsa?

Oops, now I'm really confused. The Penn State link Dave gave says

"Our specific recommendation is that tomatoes showing signs of late blight disease should not be used for canning. This applies even to tomatoes with only minor lesions since we cannot be sure that the infestation has spread to the interior of the fruit and the extent of internal infestation is not always clearly visible.

It is safe, however, to process un-blemished tomatoes that are growing on plants with leaves, stems, or adjacent fruit that show signs of infection. But these tomatoes are at a higher risk for developing late blight lesions after they are harvested. Make sure to eat or process these tomatoes as soon as possible after harvesting. Green tomatoes picked early to ripen indoors should be regularly checked for signs of disease."

Still the taste issue...

Personally, I don't see a safety issue with green tomatoes in a 100% acid solution. The pH of green tomatoes, even if elevated, is not going to present a problem in that situation.

However, I've learned to my regret that "garbage in, garbage out" definitely applies to doubtful produce. Sometimes you can get away with it flavor-wise and sometimes not. It's the Not that I'm concerned about, as I've found even a slight taint leaves a taste I don't enjoy.

I think it's a personal choice, and it does get frustrating when blight hits relatively early in the season when you still have "plans" for the fruit. But for me, I've just decided that's when I hang up my gardening trowel and start pulling out plants, fruit and all.

Carol

P.S. I do wish the wording of some of these recommendations were clearer. But I get the sense that sources acknowledge even when it's permissable, it's still a gamble in terms of the palatability/quality of the final product. It kind of defeats the purpose of canning to bottle up diseased fruit.

Not sure how to make it more clear. As I said any number of extension services have published the recommendation against trying to can late blight infected tomatoes - the link above is just one of many. The fact that they single out the disease for in depth discussions makes it pretty clear that it shouldn't be used.

As said, it is your choice. But since most won't even eat LB fruit why would anyone can them? Personally it is a waste of time and effort IMO and yet another example of junk in equals junk out of the jars.

Dave

Dave - the link from Penn State (thank you for posting it) is clearer than the NCHFP - it specifically says it's OK to can unblemished fruit even if the plant (and other fruit on that same plant) is infected. The recommendation is not to can diseased *fruit*.

I've been searching other extension links, and they say it's even OK to eat ripe unblemished fruit (though not to can it). So I don't *think* it's GIGO, otherwise wouldn't they warn you that it's not going to taste the same?

Carol - I trust your opinion, I think I will make DH his fresh green salsa and let him decide. I was also planning on making the sweet green tomato pickles from NCHFP (I like them, he doesn't), those are boiled to death in vinegar and sugar, I'll try a small batch and stick them in the fridge to check the taste. If either tastes off at all I won't can the rest.

We did pull the plants - I just picked all the unblemished fruit (blushing and green) from them first.

You asked. We answered. Apparently you don't care for the responses you got so feel free to do as you wish.

But for future readers - since I don't 'think' I am speaking in ancient Greek here - university published research on Late Blight makes a very big and important distinction between Late Blight and other tomato diseases and between LB infected fruit and other "diseased fruit".

Even keeping late blight infected plants alive long enough to bear fruit is not recommended, much less eating the fruit. The plants are supposed to be destroyed as soon as the disease is identified. Given that, why would anyone try to salvage the fruit from those plants?

What NCHFP says is not under discussion here. They do not address Late Blight specifically as the university extensions do.

The point is, as said above, all fruit from a LB infected plant, regardless of the fruit's appearance, IS diseased fruit. Not only is eating LB infected fruit in any form not recommended, it clearly is not recommended for canning. Unlike the other tomato diseases in cases of late blight the fungus is already in the fruit so you are eating the fungus.

Dave