Green potatoes are poisonous ...?

[Manuela]

I read an article (http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/007177about_green_potatoes.php) that got me thinking about how unsafe are common ingredients (vegetables) for one's health if we don't know certain things about them...
Here's the extract from the article:
Green = vegetables = good, right?

Not when it comes to potatoes.

Here's an important piece of information that my mother taught me years ago, but fewer and fewer people these days seem to know about. Green in potatoes indicates the presence of a rather harmful toxin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine). When you see patches of green in your potatoes as you peel them, cut out the green parts entirely and discard them.

What is the green? Actually it's chlorophyll. Not bad for you at all. But the chlorophyll indicates that the potato has been exposed to sunlight. And where the potato has been exposed to light is where a natural toxin in the potato (solanine) becomes concentrated at harmful levels. So, never store your potatoes on the counter. Always keep them in a cool, completely dark place.


Solanine is a natural defense mechanism of the potato to ward off fungus and pests. It will also be triggered when a potato is bruised, so if your potato is at all damaged or bruised, discard it.

According to the Wikipedia, deep-frying potatoes at a high temperature (306°F) effectively lowers the level of toxins. But boiling them (212°F) has no effect. Best to stay on the safe side and just cut away the green parts. The NIH website (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002875.htm) mentions that the potato sprouts can also have concentrated solanine, so those too should never be eaten.
So, what do you think about it? Did you know about it?

[Mancook]

I never seen any green potatoes in my life and haven’t been able to heard about it until now. Maybe this is the result of those toxins that comes from big factories. Anyway thanks for sharing the article.

[Samuel]

I always cut the green parts of the potatoes. It's dangerous to eat those pieces, death has been reported (though it's rare, I guess you need to eat some kilos to die). To prevent such cases, I store the potatoes in a dry, cold place and I don't expose them to sun light.

[Dishwashboy]

Thanks for posting it here!

I would have never known about it if you didn’t post it here. I haven’t seen any green potatoes before. This is not known in our country. What countries are you pertaining that have the incident.

[Barksdale]

Thanks for posting it here!

I would have never known about it if you didn’t post it here. I haven’t seen any green potatoes before. This is not known in our country. What countries are you pertaining that have the incident.


She is not talking about green potatoes.

SHe is talking about the greenish tinge under the skin of old potatoes. It will make you sick if you eat it. Make sure to peel it off.

[she_cookie]

Oh, that.. yeas, i do peel that off when i cook potatoes. Even if i take down part of the potatoes, i still do it. I know it is bad for our health and i wouldn't like to risk anything.

[Dishwashboy]

She is not talking about green potatoes.

SHe is talking about the greenish tinge under the skin of old potatoes. It will make you sick if you eat it. Make sure to peel it off.

Thanks for explaining!

I think that I wouldn’t have any problem with those greenly thing from old potatoes because I usually peel a lot of skins from potatoes whenever I tried to cooked them. I never eat potatoes that have a skin on it.