If you’ve ever had a bag of potatoes in your kitchen and grabbed one for a potato recipe only to notice a green cast on some of them don’t panic. It’s a natural and normal occurrence and as long as you know what to do with those green parts (more on that later) it’s not a big deal.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 BRIGHT SIDE | 2022-11-26 16:00:06 |  56,290 Views |
Can You Eat Green Potatoes? Yes But With a Caveat
The green spots are the result of photosynthesis where the potato converts light into energy. This process also causes the potato to produce chlorophyll which gives it its green color. Chlorophyll is simply a pigment that is tasteless and perfectly safe to eat. However when potatoes are exposed to light they also produce another substance called solanine which can be toxic. Solanine is actually colorless so technically it is separate from the chlorophyll that causes the green shadow under the skin of a potato. But the two go hand in hand: they are both created when a potato is exposed to light so a green potato will indicate the presence of solanine even if it is not the cause of the green color.
Solanine has a bitter taste so it can make a potato less enjoyable to eat. But more importantly it is a toxin so you want to avoid eating too much of a green potato to protect yourself from it. Solanine is essentially a naturally produced pesticide that protects the potato from insects and creatures that would eat it. Unfortunately it can also protect the potato from humans – if someone eats too much solanine they may experience symptoms such as diarrhea vomiting fever headache and abdominal pain.
Fortunately solanine will only concentrate in the parts of the potato that have turned green so if it is only a small portion of the potato that is green you can simply peel or cut that off and use the rest of the potato as normal. If there is any residual solanine in the potato that is not a huge problem – cooking the potatoes reduces the solanine levels further. It is also common knowledge that you would have to eat a fairly large amount of solanine to actually poison yourself and cases of true solanine poisoning are considered very rare these days. That said it is a poison so it is still wise to avoid moderate amounts of it if possible but trace amounts will be more or less harmless. There are measurements of how much solanine will cause symptoms of poisoning but it is not realistic or easy for a home cook to measure the amount of solanine in a potato.
