"Phred" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, "White Monkey"
> wrote:
> >"Everybody knows" that sprouting potatoes are poisonous. But what degree
is
> >"sprouting"? I have one here, a large blue truffle potato, from each eye
of
> >which was growing a 1/2 cm long cluster of sprouts. I scraped them off
and
> >dug out the first few mm of flesh under them, and the potato under there
> >looks fine. Is this safe to cook with, specifically boiling and cubing it
> >for use in a leftover-lamb-roast pie? Is it only safe for adult-type
humans?
> >I'm breastfeeding a six-month-old; does that make any difference, or are
we
> >talking a strictly safe potato here?
>
> G'day Katrina,
>
> Sprouting spuds typically contain as much, and probably more, solanine
> than even green spuds. I saw some data recently which indicated the
> effect of sprouting can be a factor of several times that of greening.
> If I can find the reference again, I'll post it. [1]
>
> That said, it's pretty much a dose/unit weight effect, and probably a
> fair amount of individual tolerance too (just as with all drugs).
>
> Solanine is pretty heat stable and boiling does not have much effect.
> Nor does peeling, as it's readily distributed through the tuber.
>
> I gather the effect of sub-clinical exposure for most folk is little
> more than a touch of the squirts ("loose bowel syndrome" and you
> probably don't even know you've been "poisoned" -- most folk probably
> blame that extra glass of plonk with dinner. :-)
>
> Don't know about effects in utero on bubs, or on breast milk.
> (But cows' milk typically reflects diet. :-)
>
> [1] Not the one I had in mind, but here's a quote from "Warning: 1" at
> http://www.innvista.com/health/foods...les/potato.htm
>
> <quoting FWIW>
> The best way to avoid this is to throw out any green potatoes or those
> sprouting "eyes" as these also have high levels of solanine.
> </quoting>
>
> Cheers, Phred.


Thank you!
--Katrina