Storing: greenish potatoes

Subject: greenish potatoes
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Celeste G.
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 17:39:05 -0400
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Can someone please shed some light on what I have always heard about eating/cooking potatoes that are greenish near the skin. Is it true that it should be avoided? or is it an old wives tale??

Thanks
Celeste Geschwindt
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 16:38:31 -0700
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it is true. and, you should point this out to your supermarket's produce manager. he/she should know better than that.
From: dfritz at rocketmail.com (Debra Fritz)
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 23:46:58 GMT
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I forget exactly what causes the green, but people say they are bitter or no good to eat. I've used them and found no major difference...You can also peel them and get rid of the green part.
From: James
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 19:03:30 -0500
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Celeste G. wrote:
> eating/cooking potatoes that are greenish near the skin. Is it true that it
> should be avoided? or is it an old wives tale??

Old wives tale. When I was in college I was broke of course and wasn't about to throw out potatoes that weren't textbook perfect. I will note though that the green skin can be bitter tasting. I always just peeled 'em and cooked 'em and ate 'em.
From: aem
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 18:00:50 -0700
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Yes, you should not eat any green portion of any potato. To the best of our knowledge, it is mildly toxic for most people. I suppose that means more than mildly for some. When we find too much of this in a bag of potatoes, we take it back to the store for a refund. Never have had an objection.
From: Leslie Paul Davies
Date: 28 Apr 1999 08:43:13 GMT
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The probable genesis of the "greening" is that the spuds were turned onto the field and then left there too long. The sunlight encouraged the production of chlorophylls. The next tissue layer produces solanin, a bitter, poisonous alkaloid found in tomatoes, potatoes and other Nightshades. Just peel-off the green, cook, and eat with abandon. Or alone.
From: kcjones2 at my-dejanews.com
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 18:39:56 GMT
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the way to keep & store any white oy yellow potatoes for any period is in the dark. they green-up in the light. so take good care of em'.
From: Virginia Tadrzynski
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:02:26 -0700
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This backs up what I have always heard form the "old wives club". The green on a potato is where is was exposed to the sunlight and therefore "sunburned". I was always informed to "waste not, want not" so cut off the green spots and the potato is as good as new.

Ginny
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:14:09 -0700
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i noticed that when shopping with the SBF in the frozen north, that the spuds were always in covered boxes. never exposed to light. never saw a green spud either.
From: jane a (hubbardj at magma.ca)
Date: Sun, 02 May 1999 03:43:43 GMT
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Celeste G. wrote:
>eating/cooking potatoes that are greenish near the skin. Is it true that it
>should be avoided? or is it an old wives tale??

Actually, not an old wives' tale. The green colour is chlorophyll and may indicate the presence of an alkaloid-solanin. Alkaloids form in pototoes that have been mistreated ie. exposed to light, stored in very cold or very warm conditions. To be on the safe side...just cut out the green parts and make sure that all sprouts are removed.
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: Greenish potatoes
From: Chris Calentine
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 19:49:33 -0500
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As I understand it . . . potatoes are a relative of the nightshades . . . . along with tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. The problem is for the most part for the potato called Calif Long Whites . . . . all you have to do in any instance is just peel them deep enough to remove the green. At most in the green part you ingest a mild acid that can cause some concern.
From: Carmen Chan
Date: 28 Apr 1999 02:33:48 GMT
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Potatoes with green skins and sprouts are poisonous. They are caused by exposure to sunlight after harvest, forming the toxic solanum alkaloids. Peeling off all the green parts and cooking the potatoes thoroughly should be able to remove and break-down the toxin.

Stewart
Suet-Ying C Chan
From: Mark Thorson
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 10:12:52 GMT
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Carmen Chan wrote:
> Peeling off all the green parts and cooking the potatoes
>thoroughly should be able to remove and break-down the toxin.

Nope. The solanine can be throughout the potato even when only one part is green. Cutting off the green part is not a safe way to protect yourself against solanaine poisoning. All potatos with even a spot of green should be thrown away.
From: Howard Larson
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 22:46:58 GMT
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Here is a quote from
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/steroid.htm#site [archive.org]

Production of solanum-type glycoalkaloids is favored by the same conditions that promote the development of chlorphyll. Therefore, the concentration of these glycoalkaloids is highest in potato sprouts and green potato skins, and tomato vines and green tomatoes.

Care should be taken to prevent the exposure of potatoes to sunlight. These alkaloids are not destroyed by cooking or drying at high temperatures. New potato varieties can not be introduced unless they contain less than 20 mg glycoalkaloids/100 g.

The glycoalkaloids are more poisonous than the steroid alkaloid aglycones. Humans and all classes of livestock are susceptible to poisoning by solunum- type glycoalkaloids. Luckily,

glycoalkaloids are poorly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract of mammals,

an appreciable amount of solanum-type glycoalkaloids is hydrolized in the gut of mammals to the less toxic aglycones,

these metabolites are rapidly excreted in the urine and feces of mammals. Because exposure to these poisons is generally by ingestion, it takes a relatively large amount of them to cause death.

[end quote]

If I interpret this correctly, all potatos contain some of the alkoloid (see reference to new potato varieties above) it just higher in green skin. Individuals who suspect they are sensitive to the chemical could avoid buying them. We have never had a problem ourselves. We always peel the green part and dig out developing eyes if they are not too far along.
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 18:01:10 -0700
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Howard Larson wrote:
> Individuals who suspect they are sensitive to the
> chemical could avoid buying them.

think you can avoid the problem by pointing out to your produce manager that HE should remove them from sale(or sell them from boxes, as done in Scandanavia. it is not your obligation to clean up bad produce.
From: Reka (hukari at pegasus.it)
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 19:01:04 +0200
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Mark Thorson wrote:
>Nope. The solanine can be throughout the potato even when
>only one part is green. Cutting off the green part is not
>a safe way to protect yourself against solanaine poisoning.
>All potatos with even a spot of green should be thrown away.

Hmmm...I wasn't sure myself, so I looked on the Net. Why would the Idaho Potato Commission http://www.idahopotatoes.com/miscfact.html [archive.org]
tell you green potatoes are fine if the green is peeled away? I would think they would be interested in you throwing them entirely away so you go out and buy more?

Reka
A Scandinavian-American living in the German-speaking part of northern Italy
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:26:19 -0700
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Reka wrote:
>Why would the Idaho Potato Commission tell you
>green potatoes are fine if the green is peeled away? I would think they
>would be interested in you throwing them entirely away so you go out and buy
>more?

no, they are merely telling you that there is nothing wrong with their product. to tell you to throw it all out is making it worse, for them.
From: Howard Larson
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 23:50:28 GMT
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Reka wrote:
>Why would the Idaho Potato Commission tell you
>green potatoes are fine if the green is peeled away? I would think they
>would be interested in you throwing them entirely away so you go out and buy
>more?

Perhaps because it would be bad marketing. Anyway, I did more research on the Web and found that the advice on what to do about green potatos ranged from *don't worry, be happy* to *be afraid...very afraid*. Frankly, I seldom encounter green potatos and the few times that I do, I just peel off the green part.

Actually there is another plant...the black nightshade...that is getting into the soybean crops. It produces the same alkaloid that is found in potatos.
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 19:59:51 -0700
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Chris Calentine wrote:
> As I understand it . . . potatoes are a relative of the nightshades . . . .
> along with tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. The problem is for the most part
> for the potato called Calif Long Whites . . . . all you have to do in any
> instance is just peel them deep enough to remove the green.

but in talking with the produce manager at Larry's in Seattle area, he says green ones should be and are removed from their bins; and not sold. so why should you have to remove what you shouldn't eat, that shouldn't be there to begin with? or is this one of those new things that means we can no longer expect quality produce?
From: Michael Edelman
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:21:55 -0400
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Alan Zelt wrote:
> but in talking with the produce manager at Larry's in Seattle area, he
> says green ones should be and are removed from their bins; and not sold.
> so why should you have to remove what you shouldn't eat, that shouldn't
> be there to begin with? or is this one of those new things that means we
> can no longer expect quality produce?

Life is just a never ending struggle for you, isn't it? ;-)
From: Alan Zelt
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:29:28 -0700
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Michael Edelman wrote:
> Life is just a never ending struggle for you, isn't it? ;-)

you are just a person who will settle for less, and take what is given. you don't question your lack of actions, just others who care enough to question. but, since you are not smart enough to ask the manager to do his job, then you can spend your life peeling potatoes. since i mentioned it to the manager, no more green potatoes. life is wonderful, even with a putz like you, mikey.