In Germany, around 12 million tons of food are thrown away every year. And that, although many of the products have not yet gone bad. Potatoes also often end up in the garbage as soon as they have started to sprout. Is that actually necessary?
If we store potatoes incorrectly or for too long, they will germinate. The skin turns green and the tubers become soft. Whether you can still eat them depends on the length of the sprouts. Here is a number that matters: one centimetre. If the sprouts are longer than one centimeter, the potato should no longer be eaten.
The background: during germination, a toxic substance called solanine is formed, which is typical for nightshade plants, which include tomatoes as well as potatoes. At the beginning of germination, the content in the potato is still low. If the process is advanced (from five centimeters germ length), the content increases. Then the potato should never be eaten again.
Poorly sprouted potatoes are harmless
Incidentally, solanine is also formed when the potato has been exposed to too much light and has turned green. For a real solanine poisoning, however, a grown man would have to eat 2.7 kilograms of potatoes – rather unlikely. However, you should be careful with children. Apart from the solanine content: sprouted potatoes lose their healthy components such as vitamins, minerals and protein and taste slightly bitter.
As a rule, potatoes germinate in the supermarket, since the temperature there is higher than in the warehouse. As a customer, you don’t see that yet, because it takes a while for the germs to break through the shell. But as I said: As long as they have only germinated slightly or have a few green spots, that’s not a problem. Simply cut away the relevant areas generously.
Storage conditions for potatoes
In order for the potatoes to last a long time at home, you should consider the following when storing them:
- Potatoes are ideally stored in a dark room at a temperature between six and ten degrees Celsius. A cool basement or pantry is best.
- Potatoes should be kept dry so they don’t get moldy.
- Foil bags are removed as moisture accumulates in them. Nets or a box are better.
- The storage room should not be below 4 degrees Celsius. Otherwise the starch will be converted into sugar.
- If you don’t have a convenient place to store it, buy small amounts at a time.
The post “Can you still eat sprouted potatoes?” first appeared on fitforfun.de. and was supplemented by CHIP authors with further information.