1. Why is the potato skin green?
Exposed to the sun.
Potatoes are tuberous plants that grow underground, and their fruits are not exposed to light during the whole growth process. If they are exposed to sunlight during growth or during storage, they will produce photosynthesis and release chlorophyll, which will lead to the green of potatoes. This is the same as the reason that soybean sprouts without shading are mung bean sprouts. It is a normal plant growth reaction, and its green potato is not a new variety, dye or genetically modified food.
2. Are green potatoes poisonous?
It contains toxic components of Solanum nigrum.
In fact, even if potatoes are not green and germinate, there are traces of toxic ingredients. This toxin is called Solanum nigrum. In the whole potato, Solanum nigrum is only about 10 mg per 100 g, which will not cause human poisoning. When the content of Solanum nigrum reaches 200 mg per 100 g, people will have poisoning symptoms within about 15 minutes -3 hours after eating.
poisoning symptom
The earliest symptoms are itchy mouth and throat, epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. Those with mild symptoms will heal themselves after 1 ~ 2 hours through their own detoxification function. If you eat more than 300 ~ 400 mg of Solanum nigrum, the symptoms will be very serious, such as dehydration and repeated vomiting caused by rising body temperature, dilated pupils, fear of light, tinnitus and so on.
3. Can green potatoes be eaten?
Slightly green, peel off the skin and you can eat it.
Green potato contains more concentrated solanine in the green skin. If the skin is only slightly green and the inside is intact, according to the experimental test in CCTV's Is it true, after cutting off the green part, the solanine in the middle of the whole potato is greatly reduced, which is within the edible standard, but don't eat too much at a time, otherwise there is still the risk of food poisoning. In addition, potatoes with serious green color must not be eaten.
suggestion
Solanum nigrum is a toxic glycoside alkaloid, which is soluble in water, corrosive and hemolytic, but can be decomposed and destroyed when heated with acetic acid. Therefore, potatoes with green parts should be shredded and soaked in water first, and vinegar should be added when cooking, which can greatly reduce the toxic content.