Potatoes are a dish commonly eaten by ordinary people. Many people store some at home and cook them as they go. After a little time, green sprouts will grow on the surface of the potatoes. Some people think it's a pity to throw them away and continue to use sprouted potatoes for cooking, but this is very dangerous.

There is a toxin in the sprouts

The potatoes that people eat are their tubers, which have many depressions called bud eyes. There is a group of axillary buds in the bud eyes, and there are Terminal bud. During the storage of potatoes, if the storage time is long, the temperature is high, and direct sunlight hits the potato surface, it may cause the potatoes to sprout. During germination, many enzymes are produced at the budding site. Enzymes are biological catalysts that can decompose stored substances and convert them into substances for bud growth. During the transformation of this substance, a toxin called solanine is produced, which is an alkaloid that has hemolytic and irritating effects on mucous membranes. If people eat sprouted potatoes, they will experience poisoning symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness and diarrhea. In severe cases, it can also cause paralysis of the heart and respiratory organs, leading to death.

It is good to add vinegar when cooking

When the potatoes have just sprouted and the buds are not very big, you can dig out a piece of the buds and eyes, but the rest can still be eaten, because At this time, the toxin is still concentrated in the bud eye and nearby parts, and the toxin has not yet spread. Although after the above treatment, some toxins will still remain. During processing, the buds and roots must be dug out, the green skin peeled off, and soaked in water for half an hour before processing and eating. This kind of potato should not be fried into shreds or slices. It can be braised, stewed or boiled. Since solanine is easy to decompose when exposed to acid, some vinegar can be added when cooking.

To prevent potatoes from sprouting, they should be stored at low temperatures and out of direct sunlight. If there are too many sprouts and the surface of the potato skin has turned dark green, don’t eat it anymore