Green potatoes
Potatoes are the most popular and beloved product in our country. Stewed, fried, mashed or in a uniform - neither a festive feast nor an ordinary family dinner can do without it. Everyone loves this vegetable, but few people know that not every root vegetable can be eaten. Green potatoes pose a huge danger to human health.
Green potatoes
brief information
The story of how the vegetable got to our table is well known to many. It was brought from Holland during the time of Peter I, but the Slavic people did not immediately fall in love with it. However, over the years, it has become a real favorite, both among ordinary housewives and professional chefs.
Today, there are many varied and delicious recipes in which this vegetable is the main ingredient. In addition, the root vegetable has a number of useful properties that are widely used in folk medicine and cosmetology. It is also used as livestock feed. The fact that even books have been written about the potato speaks of the general love for potatoes. So the children's writer Valery Kastryuchin in his works repeatedly mentions this root crop.
Few people know that, despite its utter harmlessness, this vegetable can cause significant harm to human health. So green potatoes are not suitable for eating. How dangerous is it? So much so that it can cause severe enough poisoning, as well as lead to the development of other equally dangerous diseases.
Reasons for color change
In order to understand how a vegetable can be harmful to health, it is necessary to understand why the potato turns green. With prolonged exposure to sunlight and improper storage, the root crop, as a rule, loses its elasticity, acquires a very unpleasant aftertaste, and the peel changes its color.
This is due to an increase in the concentration of the toxic substance solanine in it. Are green potatoes dangerous? Certainly!
What is Solanine?
In fact, this substance is designed to protect plants from the appearance and development of harmful microorganisms and insects. The highest concentration of corned beef is found in the peel and pulp of the tuber. The same toxin is also present in vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, and blue ones.
In small doses - from 2 to 10 g, the substance is not dangerous to human health. However, under the influence of various factors, the concentration of the toxin increases, which makes the vegetable not only unsuitable, but also harmful for consumption. Why is this happening? In fact, there are several reasons that affect the production of corned beef.
- Potatoes of this color can grow in the garden when the procedure for planting sprouted tubers, as well as the rules for caring for seedlings, has been violated. Most likely, the root crop was planted so poorly that the plant could only disfigure the green fruits. By the way, any kind of root crop can stain and become covered with a green tint.
- The condition of tubers is negatively affected by injuries sustained in the process of digging and transporting.
- Increases the concentration of harmful toxin and an excess of fertilizers, which were fed to the plant during the growing season.
- Tubers can turn green if the storage conditions have been violated. For example, the boxes in the vegetable store were located in a place not protected from sunlight.
- Washed root crops instantly change their color. Young potatoes are also susceptible to intoxication.
The highest level of toxin is observed during plant growth. In the process of ripening, it decreases and begins to increase again in tubers after long-term storage in a cellar or vegetable store. Green potatoes are poisonous. This statement is true! In the 70-80s of the twentieth century, doctors recorded a large number of cases when not a single family was poisoned with a green fruit. It is especially harmful to eat the product for a long time, since solanine is not excreted from the body, but accumulates in the blood. If a person concentrates more than 200 mg of toxin, this leads to severe poisoning of the whole body.
Prophylaxis
Proper storage will avoid the problem
The only way to prevent greening is not to violate storage conditions, temperature and humidity conditions, to monitor its integrity. When buying, carefully study the tubers. Since even in supermarkets, shops and markets, tubers in which the concentration of corned beef exceeds the permissible dose can be sold. Do not buy damaged, lethargic, or frozen vegetables.
It is equally important to follow the rules of storage at home. It is best to use a cellar or basement for these purposes - a cool, dry and dark place. Consider this nuance, tubers must be stored in dense and opaque bags, and nets and open boxes for this are not the best option.
The temperature regime also plays a huge role. It must be balanced. Since it is cold in the refrigerator and warm in the kitchen or hallway, these places are also not ideal for storing vegetables. If you don't have a suitable place at home to store root vegetables, buy as much as you can eat in the next 2-3 days.
Influence on the body
Choosing a vegetable in the market, in a store or a cellar and meeting tubers that have changed color, we often do not know what to decide on: throw them away or peel and cook? Let's see if you can eat green potatoes.
The largest amount of the harmful substance is contained in the peel of the root crop. However, even by cutting it off, we will not get rid of the toxin. Since almost half - 50% of corned beef will remain in the pulp. Methods such as cooking and boiling are also ineffective in the fight against this substance. Even a fried and stewed green root vegetable remains harmful to the human body.
It turns out that green potatoes are dangerous to health, as they cause the following disruptions in the body:
- vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions;
- increased temperature and intoxication of the body;
- disruption of the gastrointestinal tract;
- malfunctions of the nervous, respiratory and cardiovascular systems;
- death is possible.
What action to take
What should be done when the poisoning has already occurred? If a person ate green potatoes, and he became ill, it is necessary to immediately provide first aid. When the symptoms of poisoning are minimal and manifest in the form of vomiting and diarrhea, first of all, you should rinse the stomach and take absorbents (for example, activated carbon, Smecta, Atoxil). If the victim has convulsions, fainting, fever - urgently call an ambulance. Especially if it is a child or an elderly person. Otherwise, the consequences can be very serious.
Remember, even if you heat the tubers during cooking or want to cut off damaged areas, this will not rid them of the toxin.In order not to endanger your life, only healthy roots should be eaten, and green ones are best thrown into the trash and never eaten.
Procurement Tips
Expert advice will help to choose a vegetable that will be well stored, will not deteriorate and will not change color.
- Pay attention to the appearance. The tubers should be dry and firm, with smooth skin. Soft, sprouted and green foods should not be eaten.
- If there are a lot of holes, ulcers and grooves on the roots, this means that they are damaged by pests.
- Not always the huge size of the potato is a plus. This could also be a sign that the plant has been over-fertilized.
- Before you buy a vegetable, be sure to smell it, and then ask the seller to cut the fruit. An unpleasant, persistent smell is a bad sign. Please note that the tubers should not be too soft.
Summarize
Remember, the greens on the potatoes are very dangerous for your health. Heat treatment and peeling will not help you get rid of the toxin. Corned beef can cause not only poisoning in humans, but also more serious health problems associated with diseases of the digestive tract and cardiovascular system.
The only sure way to protect yourself is not to eat green tubers. Store vegetables properly and don't get damaged fruits.