Potatoes are one of the staple foods that will never disappear from our tables. It is grown both in small amateur gardens and on an industrial scale. There are not so many requirements for this product. The tubers should be regular in shape, medium in size and palatable. But it so happens that when grown or stored, the peel of vegetables acquires a greenish tint. Why is this happening and what is the danger of green potatoes? This issue should be dealt with in detail.
Why do potatoes turn green from light?
When potato tubers are exposed to light, they begin to produce chlorophyll. This green pigment gives color to all green plants around us and there is nothing wrong with it. In fact, it is present in many of the plant foods you eat every day; however, green serves as a warning. Together with chlorophyll, something harmful appears in the tuber: a poisonous plant compound called solanine.
Yes, it's harmful! Solanine, the main toxic alkaloid produced by potatoes, can cause diarrhea, headache, joint pain, apathy, insomnia, nervousness, depression, dizziness, stomach cramps, and cardiac arrhythmias. This translates into gastrointestinal and neurological disorders.
What happens if you eat green potatoes? Symptoms of body intoxication are observed after ingestion of 5 mg / kg. from body weight, and at a dose of more than 6 mg / kg. you can die. Eating so many bitter green potatoes is difficult, but the body is worth saving anyway. It is also not worth checking what will happen if you eat potato or tomato "tops" with leaves - definitely nothing good.
You should act promptly, and therefore you need to know about the symptoms and first aid techniques.
Solanin
The appearance of the toxin is the natural protection of potatoes from pests, so that pests were not averse to eating green potatoes. Ripe potatoes are safe due to their low solanine content (0.05%). After 6 months, the level of the poison rises. You should be careful with sprouted and unripe potatoes (0.5% solanine).
Even 20 mg of a substance can cause mild poisoning, a lethal dose of poison 200-400 mg. In the blood, poison is found 2 hours after the product is consumed. First of all, the gastrointestinal tract is affected, then the heart, nervous (excitement and depression), respiratory and urinary systems suffer. It becomes difficult for a person to breathe, weakness and headache are felt, and dizziness occurs.
Poisoning symptoms
If, after eating green potatoes, you have nausea and vomiting, loose stools, abdominal pain, a bitter taste in the mouth and a sore throat, then we can talk about solanine poisoning. Failures in the work of the heart (increased heart rate, slowing down), a sharp drop in blood pressure indicate severe poisoning.
The poison kills red blood cells, which are responsible for delivering oxygen to tissues. Slight muscle twitching over time is complicated by convulsions, paralysis. Death occurs after respiratory arrest.
First aid
- Bowel lavage with potassium permanganate solution.
- The use of sorbents (activated carbon).
- The use of enveloping drinks (jelly, milk, egg white).
- Taking laxatives, astringents.
First aid is provided as soon as possible. After carrying out these measures, an ambulance is called and further treatment is carried out in a hospital.
The ingestion of poison into the body can cause severe poisoning. You should act promptly, and therefore you need to know about the symptoms and first aid techniques.
First aid
This is a poisonous glycoalkaloid. The toxin negatively affects the nervous system, destroys red blood cells, becomes a provocateur of dehydration, fever, seizures and other consequences. Let's try to figure out in detail why you can't eat green potatoes?
All nightshade plants contain the alkaloid solanine. Summer residents know that besides the Colorado potato beetle, no one eats potato and tomato tops - the beetle has developed immunity to dangerous poison at the genetic level.
Not only the leaves of the nightshade are poisonous, the tubers also contain about 0.05% alkaloid. The concentration of poisonous solanine, harmless to humans, rises sharply in green tubers. Sunlight triggers the potato's self-reproduction mechanism.
- The growth of eyes begins - each forms a miniature plant with roots, stem and leaves.
- For the accelerated development of seedlings, energy supply is needed. Chlorophyll is produced in the skin of potatoes, which synthesizes carbohydrates when exposed to sunlight.
Chlorophyll itself is absolutely harmless, the danger is represented by the colorless alkaloid of the nightshade - solanine, the concentration of which rapidly increases during the germination of potatoes.
Considering that the alkaloid tends to accumulate in the body, it is better to refuse to eat green potatoes. Green and sprouted potatoes should not be given to animals as forage.
To reduce the dose of solanine consumed in green potatoes, peel off much thicker than usual, cut out the eyes and green areas of the tuber. If you boil the potatoes in a large amount of water, part of the alkaloid will go into the broth.
Solanine is not destroyed during cooking. The poisonous substance only partially passes into the broth, which only reduces the risk of poisoning, but does not solve the problem, so it is better not to use it at all.
Closer to spring, the owners of summer cottages and garden plots have the opportunity to harvest potato planting material: green tubers with thick sprouts. The presence of solanine in seed potatoes is a big plus:
- it is not damaged by a bear, wireworm, beetle larvae;
- green potatoes are practically not susceptible to late blight and other fungal infections.
If there is no vegetable garden or summer cottage, it is better to discard the sprouted green potatoes.
Diseases
There are over 20 ailments of potatoes caused by fungi and microorganisms. Infection can be transmitted through the soil, with the help of the neighborhood with diseased plants and through the storage, if a crop affected by the disease lay in it a year before. Some common illnesses include:
- wet bacterial rot;
- fusarium dry rot;
- ring rot;
- scab;
- darkening of the pulp;
- glandular spot;
- hollowness of potatoes.
DETAILS: May lily of the valley: a short description, photo, where it grows, when it blooms, why it is listed in the Red Book
Let's analyze in detail:
- As the name suggests, wet rot is caused by bacteria. They enter the potato through damage in the skin, after which wet dark spots form. Gradually, all the pulp turns into an unpleasant slimy mass. The high temperature and humidity in the storage area, combined with the lack of ventilation, contribute to the rapid development of this disease.
Fusarium appears as a result of the spread of fungal spores in storage.They live in the soil and, after a few months, settle in places where potatoes are damaged. Therefore, this disease can often be found in the second half of the shelf life.
It looks like this:- Brown spots appear, then the peel gathers in folds.
A cavity is formed inside the tuber, covered with a white fluffy layer: mycelium.
- Finally, it shrinks.
- Ring rot can be detected by cutting the tuber: yellowing and softening of the tissues in the shape of a ring will be visible inside. Subsequently, the site of infection may turn brown and harden with the formation of voids. The disease is not transmitted through soil. The infection develops slowly and is transmitted through the germinated plant to the tubers of the next harvest.
- Scab is caused by a fungus and spreads in the ground. It looks like a rash on the skin in the form of black spots or warts. For humans, infected potatoes are harmless, but less nutritious: the level of starch in it is significantly reduced.
The cause of the growth of the fungus can be:- improper fertilization;
heat;
- waterlogging.
- Darkening of the pulp is not in itself a dangerous disease. It can occur due to the wrong combination of nutrients in the soil: an excess of nitrogen or a lack of potassium. In addition, the flesh may darken due to frost.
To prevent this, it is necessary to harvest the crop on time and maintain the optimum temperature in the cellar, above 0 degrees. This is important because it is easier for different types of rot to settle on darkened tubers weakened by frost. - Glandular mottling or rust looks like rusty spots in the pulp that are visible when cut. This disease is not contagious, it is also not transmitted to the future harvest.
It arises due to:- improper soil composition, in particular, an excess of iron and aluminum;
insufficient amount of phosphorus;
- dryness and heat also contribute to the development of glandular spotting.
- Hollowness of potatoes is the voids that can appear inside large potatoes. It is safe to eat such a product, you cannot get this disease either. Cavities arise due to the fact that the outer tissues grow faster than the inner ones, and gaps arise between them.
Such potatoes are stored worse, and it is easier for pathogenic bacteria to settle in it. Therefore, it is important to monitor the composition of the soil and fertilizers when growing the plant in order to prevent hollowness.
Its appearance can be prevented only during plant growth with the help of proper soil fertilization and sufficient watering.
Why are green potatoes dangerous?
Potatoes are a product without which it is impossible to imagine almost any dish. It is in every home. This root vegetable will never go out of fashion and will always be in demand. But what if everyone's favorite vegetable turns green?
What makes potatoes turn green? The reason for the greening of the tuber is a natural process. When sunlight hits a potato, the process of photosynthesis occurs and because of this, the color of this product changes.
It is undesirable to eat such potatoes. Can green fries be eaten when cut? Even if you cut the skin in a thick layer, the green tuber is harmful to health.
Are green potatoes hazardous to health? Potatoes contain the poison solanine. Its content does not exceed 0.05%. But if sunlight, ultraviolet or infrared rays hit the tuber, then the content rate begins to increase. Therefore, green potatoes are unsuitable for eating.
DETAILS: Pickled green tomatoes in a jar
Video (click to play). |
But! Solanin is a harmful substance, but it also has its own beneficial properties. Raw potato juice is very healthy, but only if it has a minimal solanine content.You cannot store this drink, it must be used fresh immediately. The juice is useful for stomach diseases, gastritis, ulcers, vascular diseases and colds. It is necessary to consume such a product half an hour before meals three times a day, 1/3 cup.
The root vegetable, namely under the skin, contains chlorophyll. And when the rays hit it, photosynthesis takes place. Chlorophyll is found in all plants, and some roots turn purple. When potatoes are underground, they don't turn green just because sunlight doesn't get there.
If the potatoes have acquired a green tint in the cellar, then they were stored incorrectly. This product should be in light-tight bags, not in nets or various boxes. Does electric light turn potatoes green? Yes, electric light turns potatoes green too.
If the potatoes are green, can you eat them? It is best to throw out this root crop or put it on seeds. But you can clean it well, cut off all the green part and extinguish it. Of course, all the solanine will not go away, but there will be much less of it. Half of the poison will go into the water, into the oil.
Such spots indicate the beginning of photosynthesis. If the potato is not completely covered with a green tint, but only spots, then the solanine content in it is not exceeded. You can eat such a product. The main thing is to clean well and cook deliciously. In general, experts do not recommend eating even such a root vegetable. But this is everyone's business. As they say at your own peril and risk.
Of course, if you eat one potato, then nothing happens. But to eat in large quantities, and in any, is dangerous to health. Solanine poisoning will occur. Solanine is a glycoalkaloid. This substance is found in nightshade plants. Solanine is used to control local pests as well as fungal diseases.
The poison enters the stomach and the mucous membrane immediately begins to suffer, and then the entire gastrointestinal tract. To get the first stage of poisoning, you need only 20 mg of such a substance (one tuber contains 0.05%). For serious poisoning, you will need to consume more than 2 kg of unpeeled potatoes.
Solanin begins to affect the nervous system. It also destroys red blood cells in the blood, disrupts the gastrointestinal tract and digestion. This substance also negatively affects the kidneys. With severe poisoning, human skin begins to suffer. In case of mild poisoning, the body, as they say, will begin to heal itself. There will be severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
Slowing heart rate, lowering blood pressure, muscle twitching begins. A large amount of such a substance can lead to the death of a person.
- Dilation of the pupils.
- Dizziness.
- Vomiting.
- Severe diarrhea.
- Convulsions all over the body.
- Weakness.
You cannot stop vomiting. All the spoiled product must come out of the body.
If you ate green potatoes and the main signs of solanine poisoning appear, then:
- Rinse the stomach with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- After the cessation of vomiting, drink activated charcoal;
- The victim can also be given milk, raw egg, banana puree;
- You can also drink saline laxatives;
To preserve your crop, you need to store it properly.
A few tips to save the work.
- Sort the root crop before storing. Separate green, diseased and spoiled tubers from healthy tubers.
- There must be ventilation.
- Store in small quantities (10-12 kg) on pallets or shelves, covered with a protective cover.
- Spread the beets on top of the potatoes. It will absorb all excess moisture.
- Apples slow down tuber germination. Therefore, you can put a couple of apples in a box of potatoes.
- When storing, you need to sort out the potatoes 2-3 times. Separate the bad from the healthy.
- Early varieties of root crops should be eaten immediately. You cannot store them.
- The temperature should be 2 - 4 degrees.
- Air humidity - no more than 85%.
- Keep potatoes in complete darkness.
- You can store it in metal barrels, since small rodents like to gnaw the sides of the tubers);
In this video, you will learn more about what happens if you eat green potatoes.
Any vegetables containing solanine that are exceeded should not be eaten. Especially it is forbidden to give such a product to children, the elderly, nursing mothers and pregnant women. If the immune system is weakened, then the body also cannot cope with even a small amount of this poison.
If you nevertheless decide to eat green potatoes, then it is imperative to peel them off. The thicker the layer, the less risk of poisoning. The root vegetable is best cooked, because when boiling at 250 degrees, the solanine decomposes, but is not rendered harmless. A significant number will be reduced.
To protect your crop, you need to store it properly. Well, green potatoes are great for seeds, but not for food.
An important component of the human diet is potatoes. Sometimes when buying in a store or at the market, a poor-quality green product comes across. In order not to get poisoned, you need to know if you can eat green potatoes and what are the consequences after eating it.
The acquisition of a green tint by potatoes is a natural process. If the tuber is exposed to sunlight for a long period of time, then a specific pigment begins to be produced inside the potato, stimulating the process of photosynthesis.
Due to the influence of the celestial body, the standard light tone of the upper part of the potato is converted to green. For dark-skinned potatoes, it is common to mask the greening of the skin. To check for green under the skin, peel off the top skin slightly.
DETAILS: What mushrooms are harvested in October? Mushrooms in October in the Moscow region
Green potatoes do not only appear when placed in direct sunlight. In the spring, with the activation of all living things in growth, the growing season begins for potatoes. It can acquire a specific color also under ordinary artificial lighting lamps on store shelves.
When greenery appears on the tuber, changes occur in the composition of the potato. In it, a poisonous component begins to form intensively - corned beef.
In a normal state, this ingredient in potatoes has a mass of no more than 10 mg per 100 g. product. When exposed to light and heat, the toxic content increases many times over.
If you eat green potatoes, then changes occur in the body, leading to poisoning. Therefore, you should not cook food from potatoes of a specific shade, it is dangerous and can lead to a disastrous outcome.
When green potatoes begin to prepare for breeding, they will sprout. Inside such a tuber, a poisonous substance (corned beef) is produced, which performs the function of protection from pests, stimulating insecticidal and fungicidal properties.
In a normal state, potatoes contain only 0.05% of a toxic substance, but when greens appear, the percentage of poison increases. If you do not follow the conditions for proper storage, then the potatoes will acquire a green tint ahead of time.
Significant use of a toxic product leads to a hazard to internal organs. The harm of green potatoes to the body is expressed in the following situations:
- Corned beef entering the stomach is absorbed in large volumes through the mucous membrane and enters the systemic circulation. When a poisonous substance is transformed into the blood, the destruction of red blood cells occurs there;
- Depressing the central nervous system of a person;
- Changes in the functioning of the heart muscle;
- Respiratory system disorders;
- Problems with the functioning of the digestive organs;
- Stimulates the onset of seizures, dehydration and fever.
Before using tubers of a specific shade, you need to know what will happen if you eat green potatoes. If a person with a weakened immune system eats green potatoes in the amount of 2 kg of fresh, unpeeled product, then the concentration of corned beef will exceed the permitted level. Such a volume of poisonous substance that has entered the body contributes to poisoning.
If the potato is only partially affected by the green color, then the affected part is carefully cut off as much as possible. The rest of the tuber is eaten. Toxic solanine with slight pigmentation is initially formed only under the skin and in the area of the eyes. If you completely cut out the damaged part, then the potatoes can be eaten after heat treatment.
If potatoes are grown on their own personal plot or purchased in a store, the conditions of detention should be followed in order to preserve their useful qualities and appearance for a long time. The main thing is not to place the product in direct sunlight and protect it from exposure to fluorescent lights. Green potatoes are poisonous.
Failure to follow the storage guidelines will result in poisonous green potatoes.
Green potatoes are hazardous to health if eaten raw, in large quantities. If you first cleanse all the greens from the edible part, then boil or stew well, then all the toxic substances will evaporate.
Therefore, potatoes, pre-processed and cooked, are not hazardous. The use of a completely green product in food provokes serious disorders in the human body:
- Changes in the normal functioning of hematopoiesis;
- Manifestation of limb cramps;
- Development of blood and heart diseases;
- Neurological disorders;
- Digestive problems;
- Dysfunction of the respiratory system.
- disruption of the digestive tract;
- complication of airway function;
- disorder of the nervous system;
- disorders of the cardiac system;
- destruction of red blood cells;
- convulsions;
- in case of severe poisoning, a lethal outcome is possible.
Precautions
The best way to prevent: grow potatoes in guaranteed safe conditions, free of nitrates and other toxic substances. If you buy potatoes, pay attention to the appearance of the fruit, storage conditions. Do not buy the first young potatoes = chances are they will be oversaturated with nitrates.
Pay attention to the skin and the integrity of the tubers... High-quality potatoes have a dense skin that is difficult to damage with a fingernail, they do not have black dots, traces of damage by insects.
Eating green potatoes is undesirable, but it is possible after removing a thick layer of peel and prolonged heat treatment. In everything, you need to know when to stop: even in a healthy person, large portions of a quality product can provoke negative manifestations - constipation, allergies, exacerbation of type 2 and 3 diabetes mellitus.
Advice. Experts recommend choosing medium-sized fruits whenever possible, since large fruits contain salts and esters of nitric acid, toxic to humans, and small ones have not yet had time to grow and ripen.
Is it possible to eat green potatoes
Potatoes do not produce poison from a good life. It is a defense mechanism against being eaten by bacteria, fungi and animals by insects. Unfortunately, it also affects a person. Only 400 mg. Pure solanine is enough to make it to the next world. It is noteworthy that solanine is found in all plants of the Solanaceae family.
For example, belladonna, one of the most dangerous plants, contains this poison. The same substance, albeit in homeopathic doses, is found in vegetables we are used to, for example, in peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. Rather, in the greenest plant there is quite a lot of poison, but in the fruits, as they ripen, its concentration decreases radically. That is why unripe, green nightshades should be treated with caution.
By the way, in addition to solanine, potatoes contain chaconin, an even more poisonous glycoalkaloid that accumulates in old tubers, but is found mainly in the peel and sprouts.
First aid
There is a large% of solanine poisoning among animals, because they eat raw unpeeled potatoes. However, there are cases of serious poisoning among people, despite the heat treatment of the vegetable before use.
- In 1979, about 80 schoolchildren were hospitalized with the same symptoms. The students complained of vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Doctors diagnosed depression of the nervous system. Doctors had to deal with coma, seizures and hallucinations. The canteen workers boiled stale potatoes for the children, which caused the poisoning.
- In 1899, 56 German soldiers were infected with poisonous potatoes (0.24 mg / 1 g of product). As a result, the men were stricken with partial paralysis.
- In 1918, the death of a child was recorded as a consequence of solanine poisoning. Together with the boy, 61 people were poisoned. People were connected only by the fact that you buy potatoes in one store.
- In 1983, Canadian schoolchildren suffered from poisoning. In the dining room, they were served baked potatoes with a green bloom and a bitter taste.
Good awareness of the population about the problem has led to an almost complete absence of solanine poisoning after eating potatoes today.
Are green potatoes edible after the removal of the toxic part and heat treatment? Of course, the content of the toxic substance in this case will be significantly reduced, but experts recommend not to eat such a product unless absolutely necessary. Observe the storage conditions for potatoes and be careful when buying. The likelihood of poisoning is not great, but this is not a reason to risk your health.
DETAILS: How to tell a turkey from a turkey
Every housewife faced with green potatoes. Is it possible to eat green potatoes or does the product not do much harm to the body? The danger lies in the high solanine content accumulated by direct sunlight. This is a poisonous glycoalkaloid. The toxin negatively affects the nervous system, destroys red blood cells, becomes a provocateur of dehydration, fever, seizures and other consequences. Let's try to figure out in detail why you can't eat green potatoes?
First aid
- In 1979, about 80 schoolchildren were hospitalized with the same symptoms. The students complained of vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
Can solanine be removed by peeling or boiling green potatoes
The largest amount of solanine is found in the skins of potatoes. But can you eat green potatoes if you cut them off? In fact, peeling green potatoes will help reduce levels significantly.
Researchers estimate that peeling potatoes removes at least 30% of its toxic plant compounds. However, this still leaves up to 70% of the compounds in the potato pulp. This means that peeled potatoes with very high concentrations of solanine may contain enough of this toxin to cause the above symptoms.
Can green potatoes be boiled and will it remove the toxin present in them? Unfortunately, boiling and other cooking methods, including baking, microwave cooking, or frying, do not significantly reduce solanine levels. Thus, they will not make green potatoes safer to eat.
If the potatoes only have a few small green spots, you can cut them out. Since solanine is also produced in higher concentrations around the eyes or seedlings of potatoes, they should also be removed.
However, if the potatoes are very green or taste bitter (a sign of solanine), it is best to throw them away altogether.
Let's summarize:
Peeling green potatoes significantly reduces the level of solanine in them, but cooking does not reduce the level of this toxin in any way. If the potatoes are very green or taste bitter, you better throw them away as well.
Why potatoes turn green and can they be eaten
Doctors diagnosed depression of the nervous system. Doctors had to deal with coma, seizures and hallucinations. The canteen workers boiled stale potatoes for the children, which caused the poisoning.
Every housewife faced green potatoes. Is it possible to eat green potatoes or does the product not do much harm to the body? The danger lies in the high solanine content accumulated by direct sunlight.
When the potato starts to become lethargic, it means you need to throw it away. When it sprouts, you should cut off the sprouts and cook the potatoes as quickly as possible.
If potatoes are not eaten for more than two days, they start to start
sprouts, which contain two toxic substances - solanine and hakonin. Organic potatoes sprout faster than chemically treated ones.
Sprouted potatoes are of two types - hard and soft. The first one can still be consumed, but only after you cut the sprouts. Throw away the soft one.
Potato poisoning primarily affects the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. You will feel the first symptoms 8-10 hours after eating. If the level of accumulation of poisons in the potato was very high, then the central nervous system will also suffer.
- vomiting;
- abdominal pain;
- diarrhea;
- fever;
- delirium;
- dilated pupils;
- hallucinations;
- headache;
- loss of sensitivity;
- low body temperature (hypothermia);
- paralysis;
- shock;
- slow heart rate;
- slow breathing;
- vision problems.
Be careful when buying potatoes. Try not to store it for a long time. If you are buying potatoes for future use, monitor their condition so as not to get poisoned.
Have you had any cases of potato poisoning? Share your experience in the comments.
Solanine in tubers is formed for 2 reasons. Avoiding these mistakes is easy if you follow the rules.
- Hilling potato bushes in a garden bed cannot be ignored. An insufficiently hilled potato turns green even in the process of growth, if it is not covered with a layer of soil.
- When storing potatoes, you should use either an opaque container (bags, containers), or a room without access to light. The optimum temperature for potatoes is 2-5 ° C when the eyes are dormant.
Compliance with two simple rules will preserve the crop of tubers and your health.
It makes no sense to soak and boil green potatoes. The penny savings can turn into big problems. Poisoning is especially difficult for children and the elderly. At the slightest suspicion, call an ambulance.
Application
Greened tubers are better stored underground until spring, are less susceptible to spoilage, and have much better germination in spring than ordinary tubers. Even rats touch less potatoes, which have turned green.
Despite the fact that such potatoes are poisonous, they have their own purpose. Gardeners specially lay it out in a thin layer in a warm and well-lit room, so that it acquires a greenish color and good and thick sprouts appear.
Green potatoes are germinated and used for planting
Some even take it out during the day on a balcony or loggia so that the tubers got ultraviolet light, hardened, and the process of photosynthesis began. To make the process more uniform, the tubers, as they turn green, turn their "not green" side to the sun.
Thanks to these non-tricky manipulations, the potato crop can be obtained 15 - 20 days earlier than usual ripening, and the yield from one bush will increase by an order of magnitude.
When buying groceries in the store, pay special attention to the color of the potato tubers and the presence of sprouts on them. Green color and the presence of sprouts indicate that photosynthesis process started, and the amount of solanine increased several times.
And, conversely, when choosing potatoes for planting, give preference to green tubers that have large and thick sprouts. It will bring you crops much earlier than regular potatoes.
Don't forget about hilling. It not only makes the soil loose, and stimulates the growth of plant tubers, but also protects them from the process of photosynthesis. Huddle the bottom of the plant at least twice a season.
If you see green sprouts on a potato, do not purchase it for cooking.
People are increasingly trying to monitor their diet and check the quality of food. Is it okay to eat green potatoes? The root crop is very popular in Russia, Europe and the USA. Mashed potatoes, fried potatoes, chips, potato pancakes, casseroles are made from it. It's so annoying to throw green tubers into the bin. Maybe if you cut off a thick layer of the peel and boil the potatoes well, negative consequences for the body will not come? Read the article and find out everything.
How to recognize solanine poisoning?
Why are green potatoes harmful? The ingestion of poison into the body can cause severe poisoning.
Why are green potatoes harmful?
Why are green potatoes harmful? The ingestion of poison into the body can cause severe poisoning. You should act promptly, and therefore you need to know about the symptoms and first aid techniques.
Solanin
The appearance of the toxin is the natural protection of potatoes from pests, so that pests were not averse to eating green potatoes. Ripe potatoes are safe due to their low solanine content (0.05%). After 6 months, the level of the poison rises. You should be careful with sprouted and unripe potatoes (0.5% solanine).
First aid
Summarize
- Green potatoes should be taken seriously.
- While green is not harmful by itself, it can indicate the presence of a toxin called solanine.
- Peeling green potatoes can help reduce solanine levels, but once the potatoes turn very green, it's best to throw them away altogether.
- Always inspect potatoes for greening and damage before purchasing, and store them in a cool, dark place to prevent them turning green.
Was this article helpful to you? Share it with others!
Signs of green potato poisoning.
The first symptoms of poisoning begin to appear after 8 hours from the moment corned beef enters the body. There are cases when people became ill after half an hour. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. The first signs of poisoning are manifested by drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, headache and abdominal pain.
Eating green potatoes is associated with health risks. The bitter taste of solanine is not always perceptible in a dish made from potatoes, and seasonings and spices mask the danger.
Poisoning in a mild form is accompanied by a bitter taste in the mouth, sore throat, discomfort when swallowing, lethargy, drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea.
- What happens if you eat a lot of prunes. The benefits of dried plums for children
- What happens if you eat a false porcini mushroom. The characteristic differences between these species include
- What happens if there is a watermelon with seeds?
- How to get rid of a mad cucumber on the site. What is wild cucumber and how to grow it
When is medical attention needed?
If, after providing first aid, the victim does not feel better, you should definitely consult a doctor. Medical assistance is also needed when potato poisoning occurs in a pregnant woman, child or elderly person.
Treatment is carried out in the conditions of the department of toxicology. There is no specific antidote to solanine, therefore, only symptomatic treatment is carried out, that is, aimed at eliminating the symptoms of poisoning, and not at its cause. Detoxification therapy is prescribed, the introduction of vitamins and nutritional therapy are indicated.