2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Hardly most of you know that you ingest the solanine toxin on a daily basis by eating your favorite foods. We all consume vegetables, this is rooted in our diet.
However, not much is said about solanine poisoning and how to properly store and prepare vegetables that contain it.
It is possible that when you were little your grandmother or mother told you that you should not eat the skin of old green potatoes, but when it comes to baked potatoes, the skin is the tastiest part.
What is solanine?
Solanine is an alkaloid found in a group of plants in the potato, tomato, pepper, eggplant, and tobacco families.
This alkaloid is a toxin that is found in high concentrations in the roots, leaves and fruits of plants. Its main purpose is to protect the plant from pests, insects, birds and grazing animals.
Solanine gives potatoes a bitter taste and its ingestion can interfere with the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This can lead to increased thirst, dry mouth, palpitations, hallucinations, delirium and even paralysis.
Another negative feature is that solanine does not dissolve in water and cannot be destroyed during cooking or cooking.
Solanine causes mainly gastrointestinal and neurological disorders. Symptoms include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, burning in the throat, headache and dizziness.
Hallucinations, loss of sensation, fever, jaundice, dilated pupils and hypothermia have been reported in more severe cases of ingestion of this toxin.
Ingestion in large quantities can lead to death.
The fatal dose for an adult is one milligram per kilogram of body weight.
Which means that one has to eat more than four kilograms of potatoes to reach the critical norms. Symptoms appear 8 to 12 hours after ingestion.
Solanine is found on the skin and immediately under the skin of potatoes and after peeling, its content decreases by about 30-80 percent. It is also destroyed by deep frying and baking.
