The way potatoes germinate is as follows: there are bud marks in the bud eyes, and the bud marks have sprouted; Potato skins are wrinkled and generally germinated; The surface turns green.

By looking at the appearance:

See if the eye of the bud is enlarged with bud marks, and those with bud marks have sprouted.

second, see if the potato skin is wrinkled, and those with wrinkles generally sprout.

Solanum nigrum, also known as potato toxin, will be produced after potato germination, which is a weakly alkaline biological glycoside, soluble in water, easily decomposed in acetic acid, and detoxified when cooked thoroughly at high temperature. Every 1 grams of potato contains only 5 ~ 1 mg of solanine; Germinated potatoes or immature, blue-skinned potatoes contain several times or even dozens of times more solanine. Solanum nigrum is corrosive and hemolytic, and has paralyzing effect on motor center and respiratory center.

third, see if the surface turns green.

during storage, if potatoes are exposed to light for a long time, the surface layer will produce chlorophyll, which will germinate, and then the chlorophyll part will produce a lot of solanine. Green potatoes obviously have more chlorophyll and more solanine.

if you find the potatoes turn green when you buy them, please don't buy them. If the fresh potatoes bought home are too late to turn green, at this time, the solanine content of potatoes is not high. Just peel, cook at high temperature and add some vinegar, and most of the solanine will be decomposed.

why do potatoes sprout?

Because potatoes usually have a dormancy period of two to three months after harvest. After the dormancy period, if all conditions are suitable, the potato surface will sprout and grow.

Of course, the dormancy period of potatoes is directly related to the varieties of potatoes and the storage methods of potatoes. Some are very long, while others are very short.

We can store the potatoes we bought in black plastic bags, which will block the light of the potatoes and prevent them from sprouting. If you don't have a black plastic bag at home, you can put potatoes in a paper box, and then put an apple. The ethylene released by the apple can well inhibit the germination of potatoes.

Precautions:

Potatoes are easy to germinate when the environment is suitable, and the mold at the germination place will turn into solanin. Solanum nigrum is a harmful substance, which may cause vomiting or diarrhea after we eat it, so potatoes are inedible once they germinate.

However, in theory, if potatoes only have a little bud, you can clean up the sprouting place, peel it and eat it, and dig as deep as possible when cleaning.