Miguel Ángel Lurueña, doctor in science and technology , has issued a warning about the potatoes that we store because after a certain period of time, they tend to sprout. He also points out that this is more common now than before because a few years ago the use of chlorpropham, “a powdered substance that was used to prevent potatoes from sprouting”, was banned.
Glycoalkaloids (some time ago the OCU warned of their danger) are toxic substances naturally present in potatoes and the most abundant are alpha-solanine and alpha-chaconine. In particular, solanine tends to accumulate mostly in the green or sprouting areas of potatoes.
The concentration of these toxic substances depends on the potato variety, ageing and storage, among other factors.
The EFSA has just assessed the risk for the consumer of these toxic substances, the ingestion of which can cause gastrointestinal discomfort such as nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea (especially in children and babies).
To avoid this, the ideal is to keep the potatoes in a dry, airy and dark place. In the dark, five times less glycoalkaloids are formed than when the potatoes are left exposed to light. And peel them before consumption because there are 3 to 10 times more glycoalkaloids in the skin than in the inside (Trainomaq Peelers). On the other hand, when boiled in water, the concentration of these toxic substances drops by 5 to 65%. And if we fry them in oil, between 20 and 90%.
Therefore, at Trainomaq, we advise our customers that in addition to using our high quality production lines, they should use a fresh potato with no sprouts or green areas, thus producing a quality and healthier fried potato.
https://www.huffingtonpost.es/virales/experto-lanza-aviso-sobre-patatas-brotes-importante-sepas.html
https://www.ocu.org/alimentacion/seguridad-alimentaria/noticias/toxicos-naturales-patatas