Art of Diet

Potato plant poisoning

Ms H 

Potato is the number one vegetable crop in the word.  It is an important food whether mashed, roasted, baked or fried.

When people consume potatoes turned green of ones that have grown new sprouts potato poisonousness can occur. If the potatoes are forgotten or start rotting they can also exude toxin fumes.

A glycoalkaloid, solanine poison is found in species such as potato, tomato and aubergine. It can occur naturally in any part of the plant; leaves, fruits, and tubers. Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase solanine content within the tuber; the highest concentrations occur just underneath the skin. 

So you can see the poison is obtained in the plant but especially in green potatoes and new sprouts. Conclusion is that never eat potatoes that are spoiled or green below the skin. Always throw away the sprouts. 2-5 mg / kg of body weight of glycoalkaloid can cause toxic symptoms, which are usually occur 8 to 12 hours after ingestion, but may occur as rapidly as 10 minutes after eating high-solanine foods. The symptoms are the followings; vomiting, stomach or abdominal pain, headache, fever, slower breathing, delirium, vision change hallucination, and loss of sensation. 3-6mg / kg of body weight of solanine can be fatal.

Be sure to store potatoes somewhere cool, dark and dry with good air circulation. Also, keep them away from onions.