Do you really know these common foods? (1)

In the kitchen, it is normal for garlic, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other common foods to sprout. It is a pity to throw them away, but eating them is also a risk of food poisoning. What should we do? Are they really inedible? There are also some other things, such as soy milk, green beans, fresh day lily, sugar cane... These are also common foods in life, but if you eat them wrong, you may be poisoned! How to identify poisonous food? How should you cook it so that you can eat it safely?

Slight germination can save

Potato

Basically everyone knows that potato sprouts are poisonous and cannot be eaten. Yes! The first thing I want to say today is this, but: potato sprouts are not absolutely inedible, so don’t rush to skip it!

The killer in sprouted potatoes is a substance called solanine, which is a toxic alkaloid. If people eat it, the poisoning may be mild, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, or severe, such as heart failure, paralysis of the respiratory center, and death.

In fact, normal potatoes also contain solanine, but the content is very low and will not cause harm to the human body. Once potatoes begin to sprout and turn green, they will produce a large amount of solanine, which is 50 times that of normal potatoes and is "highly toxic" to the human body. If you eat 200 mg of solanine at a time, which is about 30 grams of green and sprouted potatoes, you will experience poisoning symptoms within 15 minutes to 3 hours.

So, can you eat potatoes that have sprouted? If you don't want to waste potatoes that have sprouted a small amount or have just shown signs of sprouting, there are ways to do it. First, you can dig out the sprouted part and the area around the eye, and peel the potato; then soak it in cold water for more than half an hour, and it is best to cut it into shreds during soaking to help the solanine dissolve in water; finally, add vinegar when cooking to destroy some of the toxins. But if the potato has a large green area and many parts have sprouted, it should be thrown away and not eaten.

How to prevent potatoes from sprouting? The measure is to store potatoes in a dry and cool place. If it rains frequently, you can put potatoes and apples together and store them in a sealed container, because the ethylene gas released by apples can effectively inhibit the germination rate.

These things can be eaten even after they sprout

Ginger

Ginger sprouts are not toxic, but their nutrition will be greatly reduced. This is because the sprouts absorb the nutrition of ginger, and the ginger flesh becomes very dry, and it tastes dry and shriveled. The nutrition will be "reduced" and the taste will also be worse. So if you find that ginger has sprouted, you must use it up as soon as possible.

Special note: If ginger has rotted and mold has grown, the rotten part and the surrounding area should not be eaten, because ginger can produce safrole during the rot and mold process, which may cause liver cell degeneration and necrosis, and even induce esophageal cancer and liver cancer. In addition, the daily intake of ginger per person should not exceed 10 grams.

Recommended storage method: Do not store it in a plastic bag. It is best to wrap it in newspaper and place it in a cool place, or use an unused flowerpot at home, fill it with sand, put the ginger in, cover it with sand, and keep the sand moist so that it can be preserved for a long time.

Red (purple) potato

Everyone knows that eating whole grains is good, but sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes are also really easy to sprout. Some people simply use a vase to soak the sprouted sweet potatoes. Not to mention, it looks pretty, but it doesn’t taste good.

Sweet potatoes and potatoes are both tubers, but they are different from potatoes after germination. They will not produce harmful ingredients to the human body after germination, but their nutritional value will be lost.

Special attention: sprouted sweet potatoes are prone to mold. If there are brown or black spots on the skin, it is a sign of contamination by black spot bacteria. The toxins produced by it, such as sweet potato ketone, will not be destroyed even after boiling or roasting, and will make the sweet potatoes hard and bitter. Do not eat sweet potatoes in this condition. In short, sprouted sweet potatoes can be eaten, but moldy sweet potatoes cannot be eaten.

Recommended storage method: Place the sweet potatoes in a cardboard box and separate them with dry paper. This will help prevent moisture and reduce the possibility of sprouting.

onion

After being dried, harvested onions can be stored for a long time without sprouting or rotting. However, onions are most likely to sprout at around 15 degrees Celsius. Onions that have sprouted or even grown green shoots will not produce substances harmful to the human body and can still be eaten. However, they are less nutritious and taste spicier.

Recommended storage method: Hanging storage method. You can use clean stockings or net bags at home, put onions in one by one, tie a knot after each onion, and then hang the whole bunch in a ventilated and cool place. When you want to use it, use scissors to cut one from the end.

Taro

Taro is a relatively durable food, but it will sprout in spring. Taro sprouting does not harm your health, but it will reduce its taste and nutritional value. After all, germination consumes some nutrients, and because germination causes water loss, the taste will definitely be worse than unsprouted seeds.

Special note: Taro cannot tolerate low temperatures, so do not put fresh taro in the refrigerator. When the temperature is below 7°C, it should be stored in a warmer place indoors to prevent rotting due to frostbite.

Recommended storage method: Hanging storage, buy a net bag, put the taro in it, and place it in a dry, cool and ventilated place.