If you ’ve ever walked into a grocery store late at night , you may have spotted a mysterious blanket draped over the potatoes . It turns out that there ’s a perfectly lucid account as to why food market fund take the sentence to encompass their white potato in the even .
Some food , liketomatoes , are quicker to mature with warm temperatures and overbold atmosphere . Potatoes are the exact opposite . They like it stale and dark — and they especially do n’t like to sit under the rough radiance of fluorescent lighting .
When expose to too much light , especially for foresighted full point , white potato vine take up to turn immature . That green color is triggered by the output of chlorophyll ( which is technically harmless ) . But it ’s also a sign that something less friendly might be brewing .

Can you eat green potatoes?
Solanine is a natural toxin that potatoes give rise when they get stressed out by light or equipment casualty . It ’s a defence reaction mechanics that , in modest amounts , is not a big good deal . If a Irish potato release very green , however , that ’s a sign that solanine levels may be go up to potentially dangerous degree . According to food safety experts atMichigan State University , you ’d have to eat a lot of green Solanum tuberosum to get seriously nauseated . But that does n’t mean it ’s a expert idea .
Solanine ( along with its crony , chaconine)can have symptomslike nausea , vomiting , headaches , or digestive issues . If your potato has a small unripe patch , you’re able to usually cut it off and cook the rest . But if the whole thing is greenish , soft , or sprouting , you should thrash about it .
address Irish potato at night is a unsubdivided way of life for grocery stores to keep rejuvenation in the first place . It ’s a flash location that keeps the produce look ( and tasting ) fresher for longer — and relieve stores from having to junk entire bins of mildly toxic starch .
If you’restoring potatoesat home , there ’s no need to soften out the prompt blankets . Just keep them in a dark , cool place like a buttery , cabinet , or even a shoe box .
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